Maggie J. Lunday Jackson, 46, of Liberty, MO, passed away on January 21st, 2019.  A celebration of life will be held at the Carnegie Library, 117 S. 17^th, Parsons, KS on Mar. 30 from 1-4pm.  This will be a traditional celebration.  A 2^nd celebration will be held at the Belvoir Winery, 1325 Odd Fellows Road, Liberty,  MO on Apr. 13 from 1-4pm. Maggie had requested that this celebration to be a costume party.  You can keep your costume as simple or as elaborate as you wish!  Just keep in mind there will be children also attending so keep it PG.  The family requests in lieu of flowers, please donate to Pancreatic Cancer Action Network at pancan.org/donate.  

There are no words that can begin to describe Maggie Jackson – energetic, unreserved, passionate, advocate……unicorn. 

Everything Maggie did, she put her heart and soul into.   She served in the US Army Reserves as an Administrative Specialist for 8 years.  Her job title was clerk typist but she did much more than that.  She received the Army Achievement Medal for meritorious service in command logistics and readiness for the food service program for the entire unit.  She was proud of her accomplishments which included being an expert marksman with an M-16 and service ribbons for service from 1990-1998.

She earned her Bachelor of Science in Education from Pittsburgh State University and her Master’s of Science in Library and Information Sciences from the University of Central Missouri.

Maggie was a natural teacher.  She homeschooled for 20 years in an unwavering “Kids First” style.  Her top priority was her children and she continually looked for ways to enrich their studies, help them think for themselves and prepare for the real world.  All three children, Joseph, Timothy and Brooke graduated from Freedom High Academy under the tutelage of Maggie Jackson.

Her dedication to learning and young people carried over into her scout activities as a leader, mentor and volunteer with the Heart of America council for the Boy Scouts and with her daughter’s troop in the Girls Scouts.  She not only raised two Eagles and a Gold Award recipient in Girl Scouts, she also worked with all three in Venturing.  She volunteered as a Venturing Round Table Commissioner for Northstar District, she taught at Bartle in the adult leader program and was a master trainer for Leave No Trace.  For someone who taught “Leave No Trace,” Maggie certainly left her mark on the world.

Maggie’s love of books and libraries rivaled that of Ben Franklin but she was more than a reader and writer – she was a storyteller.  Anytime spent with Maggie was time spent laughing and sharing.  She had a story for everything and she had the best stories.  Her job at Mid-Continent public library in outreach and community programming was complicated.  She made it look easy.  She loved it and she was beloved by library staff and customers alike.  Working at the library was more than just a job for her, it was her passion since childhood, her true calling.

Maggie met Charles in the summer of '89 in Parsons Kansas.   He was on a job site in the front yard on a hot summer day (imagine hot guy with no shirt), and the girl who lived in the house called Maggie to come and check out this guy she had set her sights on.  During the time that this girl pursued Charles, Maggie became friends with Charles but never thought of Charles as a romantic interest until several years later when she found out that Charles was no longer dating her friend.  She looked him up and said she knew immediately this was the guy she was going to marry.  They were married May 29, 1993.  So officially married 25 ½ years but friends for 30.  They were true soulmates and Maggie constantly told her friends, “He’s such a great guy.” 

Maggie was known for her smile, her style and the way she met everyone exactly where they were.  She leaves behind her husband Charles Jackson, two sons Timothy and Joseph and a daughter Brooke Jackson, and family cats Goldie and Midnight.  She is survived by her parents Kenneth and Shirley Lunday of Parsons, Kansas, her two younger sisters, Sarah and Mary, and their families.

Pancreatic cancer was not a story that Maggie wanted to tell. But darn if she didn’t tell it her own way. She battled the cancer the way she did everything – with fearlessness, strength, and unending hope for a miracle. She refused to let illness define her life – in true Maggie style, she sought to inspire others through her writing. Her blog, Maggz on Morphine, brought hope and comfort to many as she made her journey through cancer.

We know that Maggie is keeping the residents of Heaven spellbound right now, sitting outside, book in her lap, probably wearing a killer costume and saying around her radiant smile, “I have a story for that.”