MILLEDGEVILLE — Dennette Odom Jackson, a trailblazer who served as the Milledgeville’s first African American city councilwoman, passed away Saturday.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at The Chapel of All Faiths, located at 252 Swint Ave., with interment at Westview Cemetery. Peoples Funeral Home has charge of arrangements.
Jackson served City Council District 1 for 12 years, and four years as mayor pro-tem. She also recorded historic firsts as the first African-American president of the sixth district of the Georgia American Legion Auxiliary.
A member of the Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials (GABEO), Jackson was also at one time chairman of the Oconee Community Service Board, president of the local AARP chapter and she served on the Georgia War Veterans Home advisory council.
She spent more than 42 years serving others at Central State Hospital, and upon retirement, she was honored in Atlanta for her work by then-Gov. Roy Barnes with a Faithful Service Award.
Jackson was the daughter of the late Albert and Lula Franklin Odum. She was preceded in death by her husband, the late Willie Lee “Bubba” Jackson.
She is survived by her children, two sisters-in-law, one sister, 19 grandchildren, 51 great-grandchildren, nine great-great grandchildren, nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.
Jackson was elected to City Council in 1992. She lost a 2005 re-election bid to Ken Morgan.
In a February 2006 interview with The Union-Recorder, Jackson credited her lifetime dedication to public service to her parents.
“It’s really my parents,” she said in 2006. “They always said to do the best that you can do — to treat your neighbor like you wish to be treated.”
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