Mary Louise (Drummer) Campbell Eckman Jackson (1923-2013)

Mary Jackson, Arlington resident, passed away in her hometown of Ottawa, Ohio on March 7, 2013. She was born there on March 6, 1923. She will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery Friday, October 4, 2013 at 2 p.m.

She was the seventh of ten children. Mary, reared a Catholic and educated by the Precious Blood nuns.

m1: She married her hometown sweetheart, Chief Machinist Mate Barton M. Campbell. He was killed in action in 1945 during a kamikaze attack at Okinawa, WWII. She was pregnant with their first child, Michael.

m2: In 1947 she married Frederick W. Eckman, another local fellow. In October 1947 she had her second child, Thomas. When her husband became a member of the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin (1954-1960), Mary began teaching at the local Jeffrey Nursery School.

On August 1, 1966, son Thomas and her unborn potential granddaughter died tragically Both succumbed to sniper bullets in the infamous “Tower Shooting” at the University of Texas-Austin. Ref: “The Reckoning”: https://features.texasmonthly.com/editorial/the-reckoning/

The Thomas F. Eckman Memorial Collection was established in her son’s memory, and located within the Rare Books & Special Collections Division of BGSU's Jerome Library. The Mary Jackson Papers were donated to the Center for Archival Collections in 1998 by Mary Jackson.
Ref: https://lib.bgsu.edu/finding_aids/items/show/923

Training as a VISTA volunteer in 1966, Mary was sent to New York City where she was instrumental in establishing daycare programs throughout the city.

Meanwhile, elder son Michael Campbell entered the army in the mid-1960s, and while serving in Korea married Li Song. Two children were born to the couple. Song was hospitalized for mental illness. After which, Mary raised the two boys for the next 15 years.

m3: In June 1968, Mary married Henry Jackson, a retired labor leader. He died six years later.

Mary was involved in progressively more responsible positions in New York City daycare and social service agencies. She retired in 1984.

Mary responded to tragedies and challenges with a lifetime of service to the poor and defenseless. She helped found and direct the Head Start Day Care Program in New York City. She worked with the underprivileged as a VISTA and Peace Corp volunteer. She expressed her compassion in service to Gold Star Wives of America, and through publishing of memoirs, prose and poetry. She never lost her love for living or her need to help others.

She will also be remembered as a beloved mother, grandmother, and friend. She leaves her eldest son, Michael Campbell, granddaughters, Paula and Veronica Campbell, grandsons, Barton and Thomas Campbell, a brother, William Drummer, other relatives and friends.

Those wishing to attend services at Arlington National Cemetery are requested to convene at the Administration Building by 1:30 p.m. on October 4.

Published in The Washington Post on October 2, 2013