Among the many things she cherished, Edna Jackson loved the town of Snellville. She was born there, raised there and would have lived there all her life, had it not been for the three years her husband’s job took them to Texas.
“They lived in Texas from ‘46 to ‘48 and I had a brother who was born during that time,” said Janice Rutledge, a daughter who lives in Snellville. “And it was after he was born that they moved back to Snellville, because that was where they wanted to raise their children, not anywhere else.”
Edna Moon Jackson died Saturday in her Snellville home of congestive heart failure. She was 91. A funeral service is planned for 11 a.m. Tuesday at Snellville First Baptist Church. Burial will follow at Snellville Historical Cemetery. Tim Stewart Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Jackson was a member of Snellville First Baptist for more than 70 years. She sang in the church’s Celebration choir for 50 years and joined the senior saints in the Joyful Noise choir when she was old enough, her daughter said.
A homemaker, Mrs. Jackson enjoyed sharing her talents with family and friends, said Bobbie Jackson, a daughter-in-law who lives in Snellville.
“If there was sickness in this community, there would be a pound cake in Edna Jackson’s hand and she’d be at your door,” Mrs. Jackson said. “She would always call up people and say come get some vegetables from the garden. She just loved to share what she had.”
One of the things that made her famous, within her family as in the community, was her crocheting. Over the years, she created keepsakes bearing more than 4,300 names for families. Her creations were often wedding gifts, mounted and framed handcrafted pieces, often bearing the last name of the recipient.
“She had a book where she recorded all of the ones she did,” said Joel Jackson, a son who lives in Snellville. “And she had a list of four or five that she never got to.”
She made them in advance for some of her grandchildren, leaving instructions on the mounting and framing, Bobbie Jackson said.
When Mrs. Jackson issued instructions, it was not a suggestion but more like an edict, her daughter-in-law said. For instance, how to make cornbread was not up for discussion. It was one of her favorite things, but it had to be made just right.
“I thought I made pretty good cornbread, but not according to her,” Mrs. Jackson said with a hearty laugh. “I’m a Crisco girl, so I’m used to using that. But no, that was not how Mom did things.”
Even as her health deteriorated, Mrs. Jackson would continue to make her way to the kitchen if she heard somebody was making cornbread. She wanted to make sure only the right ingredients were being used and no corners were cut. No cornbread mixes, no eggs and certainly no Crisco.
“She’d slide in there on her walker and supervise the whole thing,” her daughter-in-law said. “In the end, she made me a better person, a better cook, a better wife, a better mother-in-law to my own daughters-in-law and a better grandmother in my own right.”
Mrs. Jackson is also survived by two other sons, Jimmy Jackson and Jon Marc Jackson, both of Snellville; 11 grandchildren; and 15 great-grandchildren.
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