Patricia Hedley Jackson

Pat and Ted Jackson were high school sweethearts and were married 51 years until Ted passed away February 21, 2002. Her spiritual birthday is May 31, 1960. Pat was a stay-at-home Mama to her 2 children. Pat was an excellent seamstress and made most of her daughter’s clothing during her school years. She made curtains, decorative pillows, hand fashioned lamp shades, refinishing furniture, and the list could go on and on. She loved to garden and could often be found in her back yard working with her hands in her beautiful yard. She had a creative mind and could figure out just about anything when it came to gardening, sewing, cooking and adventurous outings - Ted teasingly called her “Patsy Go-Go”. She laid, by hand, her patio bricks if you ever saw her yard it looked like Cypress Gardens .She loved animals – especially her 2 little Boston Terriers, “Precious Lily” & Faithful Maggie, and her ol’ hound dog, Mickey, who was her great protector during the early years of Pat’s declining memory. Patricia was a doting and kind “Mama”, patient and loving Grandma or Meemaw, (depending on which grandchild you talked to), a devoted wife, sister, and friend. She loved her church, First Baptist Church of Winter Haven and was a member since May 26, 1991.

She loved the old hymn, “In the Garden”. She heard it the first time in the 6th grade at Eloise Elementary. Her teacher and school principal, Mrs. Whiteside a Christian, would lead the class in morning devotions each day and would have the children sing, “In the Garden” each morning as well. Pat wrote in her journal, “Ever since then, I’ve always loved that hymn.” Patricia passed away peacefully on Monday, August 14, 2023. surrounded by her loving family at Good Shepherd Hospice House of Auburndale after a long battle with dementia. Patricia will be forever missed this side of Heaven, but we rejoice in knowing that she is now whole and praising her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In her final days on this earth, Patricia, in spite of the dementia, looked at her daughter, Sheri, and said, “I am going to meet God and see Ted.” It is the prayer of her family that you understand the importance of knowing the Lord as your personal Savior who died for the sins of the world. Salvation is through Jesus and a gift that must be accepted.

Patricia is preceded in death by her parents - Norman and Edith Hedley, her husband of 51 years - Edward “Ted” Jackson, her beloved older brother - Robert “Bobby” Hedley, her infant brother – Kenneth Dale Hedley, and her great-granddaughter – Ava Patricia Dyson.

Patricia is survived by her son, Larry Ray Jackson (Roxanne), her daughter Sheri Ann Rhodes (David), and her loving younger brother Richard Hedley (Roberta). Patricia was a loving Grandma to 5 grandchildren and 2 step grandchildren: Leslie de Graaf (Mario), Amanda Dyson (Craig), Michael Jackson (Crystal), Morgan Nuzum (Chris), Megan Sjuts (Elliot), Dave Rhodes (Beth), and Brian Rhodes (Deana) and by 15 great-grandchildren and 7 step great-grandchildren: Ty & Lane Lancaster (Leslie), Ermias & Jackson Dyson (Amanda), Anna & Luke Jackson (Mike), Taylor & Hudson String (Morgan), Ellie & Asher Sjuts (Megan), Bailey, Sydney, Chloe & Cody Rhodes (Dave), and Emma Rhodes, Sebastian Rowe, & Georgina Grooms (Brian). In her journal, it was Patricia’s prayer that the “circle would not be broken” – meaning that her whole family would know the Lord and would one day all be reunited in Heaven.

In lieu of flowers, your thoughtful donations can be made to Good Shepherd Hospice House of Auburndale or the children’s ministry of the First Baptist Church of Winter Haven.

A funeral service will be held on Friday, August 18th at 10:00 at Ott-Laughlin Funeral Home, 645 W Central Ave. Winter Haven, Florida 33880. Graveside Service immediately following at Rolling Hills Cemetery, 810 Tilden Rd, Winter Haven, Florida 33881.