Mearlene Jackson, age 82, of Long Branch, Texas, passed away on Wednesday evening, December 17, 2025, in Carthage, Texas. Mearlene Simpson was born on August 18, 1943, in Minden, Texas, to the late F.E. and Minnie Mae Tatum Simpson. Merlene married James Fern Jackson, Jr. on March 1, 1961, in Houston, Texas. He preceded her in death by only one month on November 17, 2025, after 64 years of marriage. Mearlene was an evangelist and loved serving the Lord in ministry. Through the years, she attended Corinth Baptist Church, Holy House of the Lord, Pinehill Baptist Church, and MT Rose Baptist Church. She was a member of the gospel singing group, Heaven and Earth Singers.

In addition to her parents and husband, Mearlene was preceded in death by her daughter, Genise Lewis, her grandson, James Edwards, and her siblings, Bennie Ray Simpson, Billy Ray Simpson, L.C. Simpson, F.C. Sinmson, Jewelene Allen, Darlene Short, Ollie Bell Dunham, and Lola Bell Bowens.

Left to cherish her memory are her children, James Jerome Jackson, Myrtle Washington and husband Kenneth, Wilfert Earl Jackson and wife Angela, Effie Hooper and husband Danny, and Kyina Routt and husband William; and sister-in-law, Edna Allen. She is also survived by numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, extended family members, and friends who will dearly miss her.

Cremation arrangements have been entrusted to Jimerson-Lipsey Funeral Home.

A guestbook may be signed at www.jimerson-lipsey.com.