Jacqueline (Jackie) Dale Lightner Greenwood

On January 1, 2023 Jacqueline (Jackie) Dale Lightner Greenwood had somewhere else to be. She was 81 years old when she left us to meet her Heavenly Father, at Flowers Hospital in Dothan, Alabama, with three of her children holding her hands and loving her.

Jackie was born on May 19, 1941 in New Orleans Louisiana, daughter of the late June A. Herman of Ocean Springs, MS and Homer E. Presley of Opp, AL.

Though Jackie only completed the 9th grade, she returned to school in her 30’s to complete her GED. Her full-time job was raising 6 children and she did it well. She is survived by David (Alesia) of Saucier, MS, Sharon (Mike) of Naples, FL, Joseph (Christine) of Freetown, MA, Charles (Jill) of Searsmont ME, Art (Tiffany) of Opp, Alabama and Vanessa of Kinston Alabama. She is also survived by 14 grandchildren, several great grandchildren and one great great grandson.

Jackie, after moving to several states around the country, settled back to her Southern roots, Biloxi, MS. This is where she worked as a Nursing Assistant for 21 years at the Gulfport VA until retirement. After Hurricane Katrina, Jackie decided no more hurricanes for her and moved to her final address in Kinston Alabama where she lived with her youngest daughter Vanessa who lovingly cared for her.

Her love for her family was a love that was proud, unconditional and without judgment. She would listen with amazement to our smallest accomplishments and would then boast to whomever would listen. She has three sons whom proudly served our country, a son who is a long-time educator and now a school principal, a daughter who is a career nurse and a daughter who has compassionately cared for our mom for a great number of years. Not bad at all. Along with her love for her children was the love for all children, Grand Central Station as our apartment was called. Everyone called Jackie Mom, both in Fall River and in Biloxi. The door was always open too. She always said “what’s one more”. She even took in and fostered a couple of teenage girls who were in need. She taught by her example, that we all must care for the less fortunate, even though at times we were the less fortunate, she always found ways to give. She leaves a legacy of strength, love, kindness, determination and a strong work ethic. These were life lessons that cannot be found in any book, they are lived.

Jackie was not perfect, but she was Momma, Mei Mei, and Ole Mei to many more than just her blood family and that, she did perfectly. Since 1984, Momma carried this cutout from a Dear Abby article in her wallet and it only fitting that we share.

TO REMEMBER ME BY ROBERT N. TEST

The day will come when my body will lie upon a white sheet neatly tucked under four corners of a mattress located in a hospital busily occupied with the living and the dying. At a certain moment a doctor will determine that my brain has ceased to function and, for all practical purposes, my life has stopped. When that happens, do not attempt to instill artificial life into my body by the use of a machine. And don't call this my deathbed. Let it be called the bed of life, and let my body be taken from it to help others lead fuller lives. Give my sight to the man who has never seen a sunrise, a babies face or love in the eyes of a woman. Give my heart to a person whose on heart has caused nothing but endless days of pain. Give my blood to a teenager who was pulled from the wreckage of his car, so that he might live to see his grandchildren play. Give my kidneys to one who depends on a machine to exist take my bones every nerve and muscle in my body and find a way to make a crippled child walk. Explore every corner of my brain. Take my cells if necessary and let them grow so that someday a speechless boy will shout at the crack of a bat and a deaf girl will hear the sound of rain against her window. Burn what is left and scatter my ashes to the winds to help the flowers grow if you must bury something let it be my faults, my weaknesses and all prejudice against my fellow man. give my sins to the devil and my soul to God. If by chance you wish to remember me, do it with a kind deed a word to someone who needs you. If you do all I have asked, I will live forever.

Robert and Toni Byrd · Sunset Memorial Park

1700 Barrington Rd, Midland City AL · (334) 983-6604