Mary Lee Jackson

Mary Lee Taylor Whelan Jackson (“Lee”) was born on August 8, 1928, in Kansas City, Missouri; her mother and father were Mary A. MacArthur and Harold B. Taylor. Lee moved to Omaha, Nebraska with her mother when her parents divorced, though she continued to visit her paternal grandparents in Kansas City throughout the 1930s.

During World War II, she attended Central High School in Omaha, graduating in 1946. The following year, she met Lawrence E. (“Larry”) Whelan when he returned from his service in the U.S Army after the war and they were married in 1949.

The couple moved to Manhattan, Kansas in 1950 when Larry entered Kansas State University to study Architecture. Their first child, Laura Mary, was born there in late 1950. Later in life, Lee self-published a book, Student Wife, recounting her experiences living with Larry in student housing provided at K-State in a post-war Midwest.

Lee and Larry returned to Omaha for a short time in 1952 where she had her second child, Karen Antonette. The family moved on to Kansas City when Larry secured employment with an architectural firm in the area. They eventually settled into a small suburban house in Independence, Missouri. While living there, over the next decades, she had four more children, Christopher Lawrence, Julie Ann, Martha Lee, and Ellan Joan. The family grew and thrived, becoming well-liked and respected members of the Nativity BVM parish (now Nativity of Mary).

In the early 1970s, with her children growing into their teenage years, Lee went to work at the IRS in Kansas City, eventually achieving the position of Tax Examiner and continued in that position until the late 1980s. She was widowed when Larry passed away in 1981. Lee met Mel Jackson in 1986 and they were married in 1987. Mel worked for the railroad at the yards in Kansas City and they were very happy as a couple for many years. Lee and Mel retired to the Lake of the Ozarks in the late 1980s and enjoyed the good life of fishing and boating on the Lake. They returned to Kansas City when Mel became ill and passed away in 2000. In her later years, Lee enjoyed the growth of her large family of 12 grandchildren and dozens of great grandchildren (with one on the way). She was the only child her parents had, and as a young girl, wished for nothing more than a big family. She was happy to reconnect with her half-brother, Alan Douglas Hedrick after the death of her beloved Aunt Evelyn in 1997.

Lee later moved to John Knox Village, making many good friends there, especially playing cards with her neighbors. She grew close with Bob Schmidt over the following years until he passed away in 2015.

Lee volunteered as a docent at the Bingham-Waggoner house in Independence and for 10 years she donated her time for KC Hospice. She also volunteered for John Knox Village hospice, bringing Communion to the Care Center. She was the secretary of her building at John Knox and wrote for the community newspaper.

Lee was a lifelong crafter, writer and devoted Catholic. She loved to travel and sightsee, making many of her trips with Mel and her kids over the years. She was proud of her Irish heritage, attending Irish Fest in Kansas City for many years and was delighted to visit Ireland in 2011 with her daughters. She is described as “sweet” by nearly everyone who knew her. She never had an enemy or ill intent, and leaves behind a legacy of openhearted kindness & compassion. She will be greatly missed by the large family she created and cared for, and by the countless others she always treated as family.

Mass of Christian Burial December 29th at 10:30 am at Our Lady of the Presentation Catholic Church, 130 NW Murray Rd Lee's Summit, Missouri 64081. A Celebration of Life at Courtyard Community Room at 2:00 to 3:30 pm at John Knox Village. 520 NW Murray Rd. Lee's Summit, Missouri 64081. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.McGilleySheil.com for the Jackson family.