Ms. Tommie Lanora Jackson

With great sorrow, the family of Tommie McClure Jackson announces her passing on Saturday, January 17, 2015. A native Atlantan, she married the late George Wood Jackson in 1942 at the Longley Avenue Christian Church and together raised their two daughters in the Atlanta area. On June 15, 1940, just four days upon graduation from Commercial High School, she was hired by Atlanta Board President Ward Wight, Sr. to work as a stenographer for the Atlanta Real Estate Board. Her tremendous skill and work ethic were obvious and she was quickly promoted to the position of Executive Secretary. In the early days when the Atlanta Real Estate Board was headquartered in the Healey Building, Mrs. Jackson would hand deliver the REALTOR newsletter to all the member companies whose offices were located downtown. The Board became an intrinsic element within the business community and Mrs. Jackson was the driving force to make it so. The Atlanta Real Estate Board, then transitioned to the Atlanta Board of REALTORS and once again, Mrs. Jackson was promoted to the highest staff position, serving as the Executive Vice President. Her career was extraordinary, spanning fifty-three years and her accolades and honors were numerous for her expertise and knowledge of association management. She was named an honorary member of the Atlanta Board of REALTORS, Atlanta’s Woman of the Year in Business, President’s Award Recipient by the Georgia Association of REALTORS, had scholarships established in her name at both the University of Georgia and Georgia State University, Outstanding Association Executive of the Year by the Georgia Society of Association Executives, William R. Magel Outstanding Association Executive by the National Association of REALTORS. It was her vision to restructure the Atlanta Board into two separate associations, residential and commercial, to better serve the real estate industry. Mrs. Jackson’s crowning achievement took place in 1989 when the Board of Directors named the REALTORS building in her honor - The Atlanta Board of REALTORS Tommie Jackson Building. After such an illustrious career, Mrs. Jackson retired from the Atlanta Board on December 15, 1993. A few short months later, she was hired by Harry Norman, Sr. in the capacity of Vice President of Administration & Operations for Harry Norman, REALTORS. Again, demonstrating her love for the REALTOR community, she worked with passion and dedication until 2007. Mrs. Jackson was a legend in the Atlanta real estate community. Her greatest gift was her love of people and inspiring and motivating endless volunteers to become extraordinary leaders; she was revered for her knowledge on a local, state and national level. She was brilliant, loving, kind and a force of nature. She touched thousands of lives and her extraordinary legacy will live on always. Mrs. Jackson is survived by her daughters, Mattelyn Jackson Morris and Alice Jackson Costello, 6 grandchildren, and 6 great grandchildren and the entire REALTOR community who loved and adored her. A celebration of her life will take place Saturday, Jan 24th at 3:00 pm at Journey Christian Church, 11365 Crabapple Road, Roswell. Memorials may be made to the Tommie Jackson Scholarship at Georgia State University.

Ms. Tommie Lanora Jackson

January 11, 1922 - January 17, 2015