Christine Cooper Jackson, of Roopville, Georgia, passed away on Saturday, November 23, 2019, at the age of 92. 

Christine was born October 7, 1927 in Villa Rica, Georgia. She was the daughter of the late Hiram James Cooper and the late Annie Irene Conner Cooper.  In 1946, Christine married her soul mate Wynton “Buck” Jackson after he returned from serving in WWII. His nicknames for her were Sugar and Cricket. They enjoyed a deep love and true partnership. Christine and Buck raised their family on a small farm in Roopville, Ga, and were married for 48 years. Buck predeceased Christine in 1994.

It is said that the greatest use of a life is to spend it on something that will outlast it. By that definition, Christine lived a greatest of lives. After graduating with honors from Carrollton City High School she earned teaching degrees from West Georgia College and Oglethorpe University. Following 40 years of combined service in Heard and Carroll Counties, Christine retired from Roopville Elementary School in 1990. Mrs. Jackson, as her students would have known her, was the type of teacher that used education to change her students’ own beliefs about what they were capable of accomplishing in life. Compassion, generosity, and perseverance were taught alongside reading, writing, and arithmetic. The hundreds of upstanding residents in the Carrollton area that passed through her classroom are an ongoing testament to her legacy in that regard.

Christine couldn’t have known it as she was driving the back roads from Roopville to Oglethorpe, but her belief in education put a firm footing under her family for many generations. She was the first in her family to attend college. Both of her daughters became teachers. All of her grandchildren attended college, and three out of four have advanced degrees. As a family, we will forever be indebted to her for giving us that foundation for success. We are also grateful that Buck was the supportive partner she needed to pursue that path in the 1940s and 1950s.

Christine lived the ideals that she taught in the classroom. She was a dedicated mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and mother-in-law. At the time of her death, she was the oldest member of Roopville Baptist Church.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Wynton “Buck” Jackson, and two sisters, Mable C. Patterson and Doris Irene Cooper. Survivors include her daughters and sons-in-law: Joy and Morgan Denney of Roopville, Georgia, and Ann and Roy Crook of Lake Junaluska, North Carolina; four grandchildren and their spouses:  Jeffrey M. and Kristen Denney, Jessica J. Denney, Daniel R. and Molly Crook, and Michael W. and Meghan Crook; seven great grandchildren:  Ryan Denney, Kailyn Denney, Reese Denney, Charles Crook, Jones Crook, Anson Crook, and Catherine Crook; and a large number of nieces and nephews. 

Funeral services will be conducted Thursday, December 5, 2019 at 2:00 PM from Roopville Baptist Church with Rev. John Riley, Rev. Cecil Davis, and Rev. Fred Cook officiating.  Eulogies will be presented by Judson Bell, Trudy Duncan, Jeffrey Denney, and Michael Crook.  The family will receive friends at the church on Thursday from 12:30 PM until 1:45 PM.  The following gentlemen will serve as pallbearers:  Daniel Crook, Michael Crook, Jeffrey Denney, Randy Rogers, Jim Carter, Stanley Smith, and Dwain Yates.  Jessica Denney, Carol Thomas, Tim Harris, and Nancy Davis will join the active pallbearers as honorary pallbearers.  Any former students and any retired educators will be seated as honorary pallbearers.  Following the service honoring her life, she will be laid to rest beside her husband, Buck, in the Carrollton City Cemetery.  Messages of condolence may be sent to the family at www.martin-hightower.com.  Martin and Hightower Heritage Chapel has charge of the arrangements.