Jackie Marie Johnson

Jackie Johnson was born in Waco, TX to parents Robert and Vivian Ogletree. She was one of four siblings and grew up in Waco until her family relocated to Fort Worth her senior year of high school. She was a graduate of Pascal High School, Class of 1969. She attended UTA and TWU to pursue a Library of Science degree (which inspired her daughter to get hers). She met her husband, William “Bill” Johnson, while in high school and they married in 1971. They shared a love for polar bears, cats and traveling and were married almost 55 years until her passing. They had three daughters: Angela, Amy and Allison and Jackie loved being a mom. When she wasn’t cheering from the sidelines, she was busy being a PTA President, a softball coach, a short order cook for picky (sometimes vegetarian) kids, a rescuer of hopeless cats, a friend to everyone and the biggest tipper in Texas.

In 1989, she got a job at Berry Elementary where she worked for 27 years as the Campus Technology Manager. We always found that funny because she couldn’t work the VCR. She loved her job and made so many friends there, lifelong friends who she kept up with after retiring in 2016. She always looked forward to their regular meet ups to see plays at Theater Arlington and go to dinner. She cherished her days at Berry and the friendships she made there.

Her retirement days were filled with sleeping in, workouts at Curves, gardening, traveling with her daughters and grandsons, transporting cats, taking care of her elderly mother, and spending time with family. And lots of country music (which she discovered a love for late in life much to our dismay). She loved fostering kittens (a little too much) and transporting cats so they could find good homes. We know the impact she made in the cat world (and to her own cats at home) will be missed immensely.

As much as Jackie loved being a mom, she loved being “grandma” even more. Her happiest and proudest moments in life belonged to her five grandsons: Kalin, Kameron, Zach, Chase and Dylan. If you knew Jackie, then you’ve seen their pictures. There was nothing she wouldn’t do for them. Every week for years she drove for hours to watch her grandsons so her daughter could go back to work. Even the granddogs loved her (especially Anakin and Mac). It was impossible to compete when grandma was in the room. She was kind, caring and selfless. She taught us compassion, love and generosity through the way she lived her life. She would do anything for anyone, that’s just who she was.

The phrase “life is short” means so much now. We will never forget homemade family dinners, matching handmade Easter dresses (that we hated), 10 years of Mother’s Day home tours, our trip to “Abookee” NM, or Broken Bow charades. We will never forget her love for Mexican food, antique furniture, ham rolls on Christmas Eve, cats and the color yellow. We will never forget the thousands of phone calls she took or how she sat with us on our darkest days as we said goodbye to our beloved dogs. Most of all, we will never forget the lifetime she spent loving us, putting us first, and supporting us in all the ways that matter. Our world is smaller and our hearts are broken, but we’ll never forget the kindness and goodness she brought to the world. We hope she knew how much she was loved.

Jackie’s Celebration of life

Sunday July 12, 2026

9:30-11:30 AM

Grapevine botanical Gardens Bessie Mitchell House,

411 Ball St., Grapevine, TX, 76051.

It will be a come and go event.

In lieu of flowers, Jackie would appreciate donations to her favorite cat charities, Averting Catastrophe, Kool Kats Feline Rescue or the SPCA.

https://avertingcatastrophe.com/

https://spca.org/

https://www.koolkatsfelinerescue.org/