Awanda M. Jackson

Awanda M Jackson died November 9, 2025, age 102, at Accolade Healthcare of Savoy, IL after four years of ill health. She was born Awanda Maxine Markuson, at home, in Mansfield, South Dakota on August 11, 1923, the daughter of Andrew "AJ" Markuson and Helena (Elsing) Markuson. She was six years old when the Great Depression hit, devastating farming in the area. Her family primarily farmed, but also took other work in Aberdeen, SD. Her father also was a SD Highway Patrolman, eventually becoming a Captain and wearing badge number 1. 

She attended high school in Pierre and Aberdeen, SD, where she was active in choral music. She enlisted in the Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) in World War II, serving as a yeoman (YN-2) in Washington, D.C. 

She married Bernyl Howard Jackson on April 21, 1951. They were the parents of three sons, all of whom survive; Larry Scott Jackson of Champaign, IL, Robert Alan Jackson of Woodbury, MN, and Richard James (Linda) Jackson of Dallas, GA. She worked as a secretary for schools in Rockville and Potomac, MD. She was a long-time member of the Lutheran Church of the Cross in Rockville, MD. She moved to Champaign, IL, in 2001 and was then a long-time member of St. Matthew Lutheran Church of Urbana. Her hobbies included attending the cinema, knitting, cross-stitching, and calligraphy. 

She is survived by two sisters; Dolores Jean (Dean) Boekelheide of Aberdeen, SD, and Shirley Ann (Arthur C, "Bob") Guhl of Monroe, GA, four grandchildren, two great-grandsons, and three step-great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, her three brothers-in-law, a daughter-in-law, Annette Buntin (Larry) Jackson, and a granddaughter, Anna Louise Jackson. 

A memorial service will be held at St. Matthew Lutheran Church at 7:00 PM on January 16, 2026. Inurnment at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA, alongside the urn of her husband, will follow in the spring. Memorial gifts to one of Awanda's favorite charities, the Food Bank of East Central Illinois, would be appreciated by the family.

Sunset Funeral Home and Cremation Center's Champaign Chapel is honored to assist the family with funeral arrangements. 

Please join Awanda's family in sharing memories, photos, and videos on her tribute wall at www.sunsetfuneralhome.com.