Carol Dee Jackson

Carol Dee Jackson, 83, passed away on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, in Perrysburg, Ohio.

Born Carol Dee Augustus to Robert and Dee Augustus of Toledo, Ohio, Carol was preceded in death by her parents; sister, Nancy Everett; husbands, Thomas L. Emahiser, Donald L. Bettis and Ronald Jackson; and stepdaughter, Jennifer Bettis.

She was the mother of Robert (Jeana) Emahiser, Donald (Sarah) Emahiser and Jenifer (James) Anderson, and stepmother to Tammy Kuhl, Jennifer Bettis, Jeff Jackson and Julie Brunt. She was a grandmother to Alyah Anderson, Noah Anderson, Alexia Emahiser and Ethan Emahiser, and great-grandmother to Cortz and Ezra Emahiser, along with step-grandchildren and extended family.

Those facts tell you who Carol was related to. They don't come close to telling you who she was.

Carol was exceptionally strong. It wasn't a loud or showy kind of strength. It was the kind that simply kept going.

She lived with multiple sclerosis for most of her adult life, but refused to let it define her. She raised her family, worked for Sylvania Savings Bank and Key Bank, returned to school around age 50 to earn a bachelor's degree in Family Life Education from Spring Arbor College, and later worked as a social worker for The Salvation Army.

Her Christian faith was foundational to her life. She organized Christian singles events, hosted Bible studies in her home and found strength in her faith throughout both the good and difficult times. Music was another constant, from Barry Manilow and Anne Murray to Amy Grant, Sandi Patty and Praise and Worship music.

Carol also loved her sweets — particularly chocolate. Somewhere along the way, someone decided that $12 chocolate wine was a good idea. Mom agreed, and that was really all that mattered.

And then there was coffee-chip ice cream.

When Mom came to Indiana, you didn't buy a pint. You prepared. Industrial quantities were more appropriate. Lunch, dinner, bedtime, midnight, 2 a.m. — and occasionally breakfast.

The ice cream didn't stand a chance.

Before MS changed what her body allowed her to do, Carol was a graceful athlete who loved tennis, swimming, ice skating and especially water skiing. At Devils Lake in Michigan, she was so good that people would sit on their docks and watch her ski for an afternoon.

Her children also remember how Mom could make a little feel like enough, an ordinary day feel special and a house feel like home. Only as adults did they understand how much strength, sacrifice and love that took.

Then there was the family game “Where Are My Glasses?” Carol was Hall-of-Fame caliber. Her glasses were usually on top of her head, and although everyone else knew it, we let her look anyway. Eventually someone would point upward.

Until the next one.

Even later in life, Carol remained resourceful. After she passed, the family found more than ten pairs of scissors strategically stashed throughout her room. With her hands no longer working well, Mom had apparently decided to prepare like a Navy SEAL: never be far from the proper equipment.

This wasn't clutter. This was logistics.

Those little things tell Carol's story almost as well as the big ones. She adapted. She figured things out. She kept going. And she left us stories that will keep us laughing long after she's gone.

MS took many physical things away from Carol.

It didn't take her faith.

It didn't take her sweetness.

It didn't take her smile.

And it never took her ability to make the people she loved feel safe and loved.

Carol and Ron were also blessed to have two very special caregivers, Dana Lefevers and Julie Gilkerson, whose kindness, care and friendship meant more to them — and to our family — than we can adequately express. We will always be grateful for everything they did for both of them.

We will miss her voice, her smile, the music, the sweets, her faith and all the little things we probably don't even realize we're going to miss yet.

But most of all, we will miss the feeling that came with having Mom here.

Because for all the things Carol gave us throughout her life, perhaps the greatest was this:

She made life better simply by being in it.

And for those fortunate enough to call her Mom, Grandma, sister, family or friend, the world will always feel a little different without her in it.

Carol will be laid to rest next to her husband on Friday, October 2, 2026 at 11:00 am at Lenawee Hills Cemetery in Adrian, Michigan.