Jacquelyn Beth Brucks

Jackie was born July 14th, 1943 to Jack and Gwendolyn Toby in San Antonio, Texas. The family would later move to Dallas, where she would grow up with her sisters Carol and Connie. She graduated from Hillcrest High School in 1961, where she made many life-long friends.

Jackie attended East Texas State University where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Education. She was active in the Kappa Delta Sorority, where she made still more life-long friends.

She taught for the Mesquite Independent School District for the remainder of the Sixties until she met the great love of her life, Dr. Anton “Tony” Brucks through one of her sorority sisters. They married in 1970, and the couple moved to the Lake Highlands area of Dallas where they raised their children Michele, Sally, Stacey, and Anton, as well as accumulated even more life-long friends.

A homemaker throughout the Seventies, Jackie would re-enter the workforce in the mid-Eighties as a substitute teacher. A few years later she would open Especially for You Gifts in Lake Highlands. She later started Love Bugs, a line of clothing for preemies, and would work with children at Sylvan Learning Centers, Park Cities Baptist Church, Stonebriar Community Church, and at For Children in University Park. She never retired, and was making sales calls for Maintenance, Inc. less than a week before her passing.

Jackie was known for her strong yet vivacious personality and sense of style. Her preoccupation was with the people in her life. Her resolute nature and fierce loyalty to her family, friends, and coworkers made others grateful to have her in their corner. However, there was nothing gruff about her. She was generous, ebullient, and always available to her loved ones.

She was a woman of profound faith, with deep involvement in the church. Her home churches moved throughout the decades from Ridgewood Park Methodist Church, to North Highlands Bible Church, to Park Cities Baptist Church, and to Stonebriar Community Church. She continuously expanded her knowledge of the Bible to a granular level, at times able to debate the meaning of a verse as translated from the original Ancient Greek.

When she wasn’t working or researching the New Testament, Jackie enjoyed the finer things in life. She loved to play Bridge and travel the world, with Europe in particular. She also loved shopping. She often joked that she wanted her ashes to be spread at Northpark Mall, so if you see one of her grandchildren there doing something unusual, please do not notify the authorities. She will always be remembered for her peerless culinary skills. The provenance of whichever cuisine she prepared was immaterial. Whatever she cooked became “Jackie Food”, and it transcended the original recipe. Despite her matchless abilities in the kitchen, she seemed happiest at a table in an upscale restaurant, menu in hand.

She will be dearly missed by her husband, children, and grandchildren, who called her “Mimi”.

Jackie is survived by her husband Dr. Anton “Tony” Brucks, her children Michele Brucks Mackelfresh Black, Sally Brucks Schopmeyer, Stacey Brucks Nichols, and Anton “Tony” Brucks Jr.; grandchildren Sydney Mackelfresh Hinkle, Abigail Weigand, Will Weigand, Brett Mackelfresh, Emily Schopmeyer, Steven Nichols, Matthew Schopmeyer, Leslie Schopmeyer, and Jack Brucks; great-grandchildren Kaiden Mackelfresh, Olive Broyles, and Birdie Broyles; sons-in-law Saleem Black, Douglas Schopmeyer, and Scott Nichols; sisters Carol Campbell and Constance “Connie” Morrison.

Her family offers its deepest condolences to everyone who never had a chance to know her.

A service in her honor will be held at Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas at 2:00 P.M. on Thursday, June 15th in Building B.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.Grove-Hill.com for the Brucks family.