Mrs. Joy Amelita Jackson

Joy Amelita Rogers was born in Pottsville, PA on June 7, 1931, to the union of Albert Lewis Rogers and Rachel Ann Hawkins Rogers. She was baptized. as an infant, at the Bethel AME Church of Pottsville. She later made her confirmation in the Roman Catholic Church receiving the names of Saints Cecilia and Bernadette. She enjoyed telling us her name was Joy Amelita Cecilia Bernadette Rogers Jackson! Because Joy’s mother died when she was three years old, she was raised alternately between her paternal grandmother and aunts in Los Angeles, California and her maternal grandparents, aunts and uncles in Pottsville and later in Washington, DC. She and her brother, Reece, lived a year in each environment until high school when it was decided she and her brother should remain in Los Angeles to complete their education. It would be 17 years before Joy would see her beloved Aunt Dorothy again. Joy graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in Los Angeles in 1949. While at ‘Jeff’, she met Mance Cal Jackson, the young man who would be her husband. Mance and Joy married on December 17, 1950. Their first child, Diantha (DeeDee), was born in 1951, during their time in the US Army at Fort Lewis, Washington. After Mance’s discharge from the service, he and Joy returned to Los Angeles where they welcomed four more children: Claudius, Darlene, Deborah and Doreen. While living and pastoring in Seattle, WA, Myron was born. Donna, the last of the children, was born in Atlanta, GA. Joy considered her children her ‘treasures’ and she cherished each of them. In 1955, Mance accepted the “Call to Ministry” in the CME Church. Joy, the dutiful wife, never considered not accompanying him in his work. In 1957, the first charge took him weekly to a mission church in Fontana, CA. Joy would spend Saturday preparing clothes and polishing shoes to ready herself and her family for the hour drive to worship. We fondly remembered the many Sundays when the only congregants were the Jackson family, however we had Sunday School and worship anyway! The next charge was about an hour and a half from Los Angeles in Santa Barbara. Joy, again made sure the small family was ready to go each Sunday morning to support her husband. Her love for the work and God gained her lifelong friendships along the way. From California to Seattle, Washington to Atlanta, Georgia, Joy learned to minister to her husband, children and the church in her sweet, quiet way. She was a genuine example of a pastor’s wife and helpmeet. The last move the family would make occurred in 1968 when Mance accepted an Associate Professorship with the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, GA. Joy continued to put all her efforts into seeing to the needs of her children. The family joined the Shy Temple CME Church under the pastoral leadership of Rev. W. Clyde Williams. During her membership, she served with her time, talents, tithes and resources. She was a willing and dedicated worker and financial supporter of the Missionaries, Ministers’ wives organizations, Pastor’s Aide Board, Children’s and Youth departments, Culinary Staff, and any special event held at Shy Temple. After the death of her husband, she donated his books and many papers to the establishment of the Rev. Dr. Mance C. Jackson Memorial Library at Shy Temple Church. In the summer of 1970, in order to meet the needs of her daughters, she created educational, as well as fun activities for her daughters and their friends in her family’s recreation room. She provided indoor and outdoor activities such as cooking, sewing, games, songs, poise and etiquette. Each week more girls wanted to attend Mrs. Jackson’s summer camp. By the next summer, she had joined forces with some friends she made through the PTA, to establish a summer camp program through the auspices of the Decatur Recreation Program for the community’s children at McKoy Park. Two years later, with the opening of the Samuel L. Jones Boys Club, Joy accepted an offer from the Decatur City Schools for use of a house on Mead Rd and she named the program the Decatur Girls club. With no official funding, but support from the Board of Education and the Decatur business community, Joy Jackson’s Girls Club became one of the best summer programs in Decatur. They outgrew the house donated by the Board of Education in just two years. More than 150 girls were served each summer with many turned away due to a lack of space and funds. In 1974, the Decatur Girls Club joined the Metropolitan Atlanta Girls Clubs, Inc. (MAGiC). It began operating out of two floors of the Oakhurst Presbyterian Church’s recreational building near the Jones Boys Club. During the course of the first year's program at Oakhurst Presbyterian, over 600 girls attended. Because of her endeavors, the Decatur-DeKalb Girls Club won the Hazel B. Eubanks Expansion Award for the fastest growing girls club in Region I of International Girls Clubs of America that same year. Joy continued to run the club she started until she retired in 1988. Increased activities included dramatic arts, dance, photography, macramé, sculpting, painting, tutoring and organized sports. Special events were held to which other clubs were invited to participate such as Field Day, International Day, Circus Day (A MAGiC annual event), Fall Festival featuring a haunted house (that received rave reviews), and Dramatic productions, (most notably was a production of ‘The Wiz’). Many girls went to State and National Conventions where they won awards in various disciplines. The motto "to take up where school and home leave off" was to help girls build a powerful self-image and give each child individual attention. Though Joy officially retired in 1988, she was lured back into service in 1990 as an Area Director after the Boys and Girls Clubs merger. Her major concern was developing and maintaining the high standards and integrity she had realized as founder and director of Decatur/DeKalb Girls Club. There is so much more to the life of this gentle, precious woman. She had the gift of service and she served wherever she saw a need. Joy was a civic-minded citizen. In the 52 years of Joy’s residency in the City of Decatur, she was an active member of the PTAs of College Heights Elementary, Renfroe Middle, and Decatur High Schools. Memberships include: Decatur High Band and Sports Booster Clubs; Downtown Development Board; South Decatur Community Council; Oakhurst Community Health Center Board; She was the Campaign manager for her friend Elizabeth Wilson’s successful runs for both Mayor of Decatur and City Commissioner; She founded the College Heights Neighborhood Association and Volunteered with the Beacon Hill Senior Citizen’s Club. In 2003, The City of Decatur honored Joy and Mance with a Decatur Hometown Hero award. At the time she became ill, she was sewing masks for healthcare workers at a Senior Nursing Home. Over these past few weeks, the outpouring of love from all over the country is a testament to the Christ-like life she lived. Joy loved her family, Shy Temple, the CME Connectional Church, and friends. They in turn loved her. We, her children: Diantha, Claudius, Darlene, Deborah (Carl), Doreen (Sheryl), Myron and Donna (Keith); and her grandchildren: John, Avien, Derek, Christopher, Ethan, Ariel, Nina, Danielle, Xyron and Deonna, her 10 great grandchildren and 1 great-great grandchild have a void only God can fill. Mommy/Grandmommy was all encompassing in our lives. It is difficult to imagine what lies before us as we contemplate an existence without her. Joy has been greeted in heaven by: her husband, parents, grandparents, brother, aunts, uncles, and a host of friends! Proverbs 31:25-31 …Strength and honor are her clothing; she shall rejoice in time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness. She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her. Many daughters have done well, But you excel them all. Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates. A Memorial Service Celebrating the Life of Mrs. Joy Jackson will be held at 1:00PM Saturday, October 3, 2020 at Gregory B. Levett & Sons Funeral Home SOUTH DEKALB Chapel. Attendance is by INVITATION only. The Memorial Service will be Live Streamed. Due to the COVID-19, a mask is required to enter the Chapel

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Mrs. Joy Amelita Jackson

June 7, 1931 - September 21, 2020