JoAnne Jager

JoAnne Jackson Jager, of East Lansing, Michigan, peacefully passed away March 24, 2023.  Born in Detroit, Michigan, she grew up in Wyandotte, Michigan, where she graduated from St. Patrick High School in 1960.  She graduated from the University of Detroit with a Bachelor of Arts in History and Western Michigan University receiving a master’s degree in Library Science.  She married her husband, Philip, and began her career working for the State of Michigan Library in Lansing and later for the Lansing Library.  There she became the manager of the extensive local history collection.  Her skills came to the attention of the R.E. Olds Transportation Museum in downtown Lansing where she was elected its president in 1990.

Within the aforementioned period, she took time away from work for approximately five years becoming a beloved and model mother for the couple’s two sons, Paul and Kevin.  As a mother, she loved knitting certain winter types of clothing for her youngsters and creating artistic micro-stitch patterns to frame.  She loved to read, research and, when time allowed, volunteer her skills at church libraries and other organizations needing this type of help.

Life’s journey later took JoAnne and Philip to semi-retire in Santa Fe, the capital city of the state of New Mexico.  There she worked for the New Mexico State Library and became the manager of its large and extensive Southwestern history collection.  She was also extremely skilled in genealogy research, helping many clients research far into the depths of their family histories, regardless of where in the world they may have grown up.

JoAnne enjoyed world travel.  Over her lifetime, she had explored all 50 states and their capital cities, plus Puerto Rico, Canada, and Mexico.  She also enjoyed, over time, exploring many countries within western and far eastern Europe.  These trips ranged from Ireland to Spain and others bordering the Mediterranean Sea and then up and over to Poland, Ukraine, and Moscow, and down the Russian coast of the Black Sea to Sochi, Russia.

JoAnne is revered and survived by her husband, Philip; sons, Paul and Kevin; daughter-in-law, Suzie; and three grandchildren known as “The A Team”: Alexander, Abigail, and Ashton Jager.  She is also survived by her sisters, Gail Jackson George and Barbara Jackson Schultz; brother, James Jackson; plus many nieces, nephews and cousins.  Her brother William preceded her in death.

Memorial visitation will be at the Estes-Leadley Greater Lansing Chapel, 325 W. Washtenaw St. from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 4, 2023.

The Funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, 955 Alton Rd., East Lansing, at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, April 5, 2023.  Burial will follow at 11:45 a.m. in Evergreen Cemetery, 2600 E. Mt. Hope Ave., Lansing.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association Michigan Chapter in memory of JoAnne Jager.