Gigi (Jerry) Jackson:  

My Life Hi, my name is Ms Gigi M. Jackson, but most knew me as Jerry in those long ago days of youth and innocence. I graduated in the class of 1965 from Campbell High School in Smyrna, Cobb Co. GA. That's the Green & White Campbell Panthers!!! NEW INFO: Something of note worthy to mention and an update on my family history as to the Campbell family who owned the land that Campbell High was built upon and whom the school got it's name from: I have a small bronze statue sitting on my computer desk here at home with the name Campbell Coal Company established in 1885. My father got this from his father's brother who had some major connection to the Campbell Coal Co. and as it was always rumored that we were related to the Campbell family. A while back, not long ago, I stumbled upon some genealogy on line only to discover it was true. Our Jackson and McEntire/Entyre family's are connected and related to this same Campbell family line which are the same Campbell family of Smyrna and our school. Also, another note is that the McEntyre Bakery that was at Jonquil Plaza In Smryna, Georgia for so long and now on Concord Rd. is also owned and run by my McEntyre family relatives ... Always knew this for Mom always would buy her bakeries there from them for that reason ... just another bit of history and news of my deep rooted connection to Smyrna. Also, long ago when I was 2-3 yrs old my dad actually owned and operated a small restaurant there in downtown Smyrna off of Atlanta Rd. across from the railroad tracks and the use to be small train depot. All that is gone now ... so sad! I was born Aug 9, 1947 in the old Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, Fulton Co. GA and raised in the southeastern part of the states. Here's a little history for you locals in Atlanta on Piedmont Hospital. The old hospital was located originally where the Atlanta Stadium was built in 1964/1965 that lasted until it was demolished in 1997. This is where the Atlanta Braves, Falcons, and Chiefs all once played. Even the old Atlanta Crackers played there in the stadium's first season in 1965 before the Braves came to Atlanta and the once only Beatles Concert was held in 1965. It's now a parking lot for Turner Field where the Atlanta Braves now play. A monument now stands in the parking lot where Hank Aaron hit his 715th record home run and the outline of the original stadium is built into the parking lot. I use to tell everyone I was born on home plate in the Atlanta Stadium ... now I can just say ... a parking lot! Smile! The now Piedmont Hospital is located on Peachtree Street in the Buckhead area of Atlanta. My Dad was a career man or lifer as they call it in the Regular Navy and we moved around a lot. My Dad had a combine total service of 28 plus years of active Regular Navy and Naval Reserves. He served in the Pacific in World War II aboard the USS Boise CL-47, a light cruiser that saw much action, and he also served in support during the Korean War. I was originally named after my Dad's captain on the Boise, Capt Edward Joseph Moran who went by Mike Moran or "Iron Mike" a former boxer in the Navy. My Dad loved this man and so gave me my middle name Moran. Captain Moran retired some years later after the war as Admiral E. J. Moran. My middle name was changed along with my first name from Jerry Moran Jackson to Gigi Monet Jackson ... to reflect my 1000 years of French ancestry. Originally my parents lived on La Vista Road in Atlanta when I was born. After being born in Atlanta and spending the first year or so there, we moved to Smyrna, GA for a time, then Dad re-enlisted into the Navy and we moved to Memphis, TN for a year or so, then to St. Petersburg, FL where I attended kinder garden, back to Atlanta, GA in the Brookhaven area where I attended 1st, 2nd, & 3rd grades from 1953-1956 at Brookhaven Elementary, then to Chattanooga, TN in the Red Bank area where I attended 4th and 5th grades from 1956-1958 at Red Bank Elementary, on to Mount Pleasant/Charleston, SC where I attended 6th grade in 1958-1959 (half year at Mount Pleasant Academy Elementary & half year at North Charleston Elementary, then to Greenville, SC where I attended 7th in 1959-1960 at Hughes Junior High, and finally settled in Smyrna, GA after Dad retired from active service of 20 yrs from the Navy in Greenville, S.C. In Smryna I attended the 8th grade in 1960-1961 at Belmont Elementary and then 9-12th grades in 1961-1965 at Campbell High. Our class of 65 was the last freshman class to attend Campbell High when after the 9th grade in 1962 it became a senior high school. After graduating from Campbell, I attended the summer quarter of college in 1965 following graduation with several others in our class at Middle Georgia College in Cochran, GA. After which, I then attended two semesters in 1965-1966 at Southern Technical Institute in Marietta, GA. At that point, I left school and went to work in the autumn of 1966 with Western Union as an equipment installer in downtown Atlanta where I got to travel often all over the Southeast installing communication equipment such as Telex as well as Mode 5 and Crypto equipment for the government. In the summer of 1968, after working a month at the GOP Convention in Miami, FL with Western Union, I transferred to Dallas, TX a week before my 21st birthday. I continued on to work for Western Union for another year or so before moving on to other interest. I met my spouse there in the autumn of 1970. I joined the Navy in the spring of 1971. After boot camp I had two weeks leave so I flew back to Dallas to get my spouse to be. From there we drove back to Millington, TN for a week and then to Georgia where we were married Jun 26, 1971 in Ringgold, GA and then went down to see my parents in Smyrna, GA. We traveled back to Millington, TN at NATTC where I attended 6 mos. of Avionics School with the Navy while my spouse worked at the Navy Commissary. I was then stationed for active duty at Dallas NAS in Grand Prairie, TX for the next 3 years where we settled down there in Grand Prairie. After the Navy we continued to reside in Grand Prairie as I jumped around working a number of different type jobs. I was hired in Nov 1, 1981 by my employer that I'm still with to this day. We had one daughter who was born Nov 4, 1982 in Arlington, Tarrant Co. TX. We moved to Norcross, GA in the spring of 1985 where we lived for less then 2 years during which we were able to attend the Campbell 20 year 1965 class reunion in the summer of 1985 at Aunt Fanny's Cabin. In Norcross I worked for a sister rep of the company I worked for back in Dallas. We then moved back to Grand Prairie, TX in the autumn of 1987 where I went back to work with the company I had been with for almost 4 years previous to my move to Norcross. My company reinstated my time of service I had had with them previously as well as the time I had worked for the sister rep. I will celebrate 34 years with them on Nov 1, 2015. My job title is Inside Sales Parts Specialist and the work I do is data/order entry and inside parts sales for a major control valve distribution company in Dallas, TX who is a rep for Fisher Controls Int'l in Marshalltown, Iowa. We cover a territory that encompasses Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and New Mexico. My spouse and I will celebrate 44 years of marriage June 26, 2015. My daughter went to private Christian school from kinder garden thru 12th. She graduated as valedictorian of he...Expand for more