Jolene Marie Jacobson Obituary (2023)

Jolene Marie Jackson Jacobson, Mom, passed away on August 27, 2023, at Crescent Health Care in Yakima, Washington. Mom was born March 17, 1942, in a mid-wifes room, in Polson, Montana, to Walter and Effie Jackson. She was the second of seven children, and raised in a small three-bedroom home, in Niarada, Montana. She attended Battle Butte school with a handful of local cousins and friends, regularly getting in trouble with their 18-year-old teacher, when cousin Judy would talk them in to skipping school for brandings, wearing lipstick, or smoking tall grass behind the outhouse. Jolene stayed with her grandma in Kalispell during her High School Years and attended Flathead High. Jolene married her lifetime love, Ronald Jacobson, in 1959, and they made a family and life together on a ranch near Hot Springs, Montana. They had four children, who worked alongside them baling hay, changing pipes, and feeding livestock. Jolene was a cattle woman, a Sunday School teacher, 4-H leader, ambulance attendant, school bus driver, and flower-shop owner. She used her designing talents to make gorgeous bouquets, corsages, and wedding decorations through the years. In the late 1980s, Jolene started working for the Montana Soil Conservation Service, and then began proudly working for her Tribe, where she was an enrolled Tribal member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, in the Division of Lands. She transferred jobs to Shoreline Protection and finished her career at the Tribe as the Disaster Emergency Coordinator for CSKT. She loved this job, arranging trainings for local first-responders and coordinating response efforts during fire season. Jolene retired with enough time to spend overlooking their beautiful garden and Flathead Lake at their home in Big Arm, before dad passed away in 2011. Jolene moved with Debbie and Bevra to Yakima, Washington in 2013, and spent her time taking care of their much-loved corgis, Simon and Reilly, and watering and pruning flowers and shrubs. Jolene lost her son, Edd, in 1992 in a plane crash. Jolene lost her husband, Ronald, in 2011, her mom, Effie, in 1990, her dad, Walter, in 2004, her brother, Daniel Jackson, in 2021, brothers Jimmy and Dickie Jackson, when they were way too young, and sister-in law, Evelyn Jacobson Ansley, a few months ago, in 2023. Jolene is survived by her son, Marvin and Laurie Jacobson, daughter, Debbie Croft, and Robert Baker, daughter, Bevra Jacobson, and David McAleer, siblings, Doug Jackson, Jeanne and John Bras, Nancy and Don Gaynor, sisters-in-law, Cheryl Jackson, and Rosalie Jacobson Graham, and brother-in-law, Frank Ansley. She is also survived by her grandchildren, Gibb and Jane Kerr, Hank and Marianne Kerr (children Case, Ryder and Ariat), Katie Croft, Kimberly and Mark Bilbrey (daughter, Bridget), and many, many beloved extended family members and relatives. A Memorial Service will be held on Sunday, September 3, 2023, at 4:30pm. A Graveside will be held in the Murray Memorial Cemetery, in Lonepine, Montana. A Dinner Reception will follow at the Lonepine Hall. She was a go-getter, a coordinator, and a very generous soul. She took care of many, many people. She would want the flowers, but if youre so minded instead, please make a donation to Crescent Healthcare or Memorial Hospice in Jolenes name. They were both much appreciated for their loving care of mom and have our many thanks. Memorial contributions may be sent in care of Brookside Funeral Home (PO Box 1267, Moxee, WA 98936), who is caring for the family. Memories and condolences may be shared at www.brooksidefuneral.com.