Following several years of declining health, Mary Lou Baxter Jackson, affectionately known as Toopie, passed away peacefully on January 4, 2025 at Four Seasons Hospice Elizabeth House with her daughter by her side. She was preceded in death by her parents Marie Mitchell Baxter (1946) and W.A.(Bill) Baxter (1986) as well as her loving sister, Joanna Baxter Pack (2018).
She is survived by her husband of 69 years, Charles E Jackson of Hendersonville, daughter Rebecca Kate McCall (Ernest) of Flat Rock, three grandchildren Bud McCall (Amy), Erik McCall (Cortney) and Katie Marie Lamb. She is further survived by her seven great-grandchildren, Aly Lamb, Brock McCall, Ryce McCall, Kyndall McCall, Natalie Lamb, Zella McCall and Callen McCall.
Her family moved to Henderson County in 1940 when her father purchased the Sinclair Oil Distributorship and started Baxter Oil Company. She graduated from Hendersonville High School in 1949 where she was a majorette in the band and was crowned Miss Hendersonville High her Senior year. Following high school, she attended Lees McCrae College and Brevard College before pursuing her dream career as an airline stewardess for Delta Airlines in 1951. Her career was short-lived because of her continued air sickness but she remembered that time fondly throughout her life. Throughout the remainder of her life, she worked as a dental assistant for Dr Joe Crowell and became a personal care giver before retiring in 1992.
In 1955, she married Charles E Jackson and a year later became a mother to the daughter she had always prayed for, Rebecca Kate (McCall). She was a very loving mother and devoted her life to her family which grew into three grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. She loved to tell new people she met that she only had one child; but, from that one child, all these other beautiful people developed. Spending time with her three grandchildren, when they were young, were some of her fondest memories.
Toopie (Mama/Grandmama) lived a long and adventurous life and will be greatly missed and fondly remembered by all; but her family is comforted knowing that she is with her Lord Jesus and reunited with her loving mother, father and sister.
A celebration of her life will be held Thursday, January 9, at 12:00 pm in The Chapel in The Pines at Jackson Funeral Services. She will be laid to rest beside her mother in Oakdale Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Four Seasons Hospice. The family would like to thank the staff of Elizabeth House for their loving attention to Mary Lou during the final hours of her passing.