Eressia Christine Holliday was born March 26, 1938 at home in Edmond, Oklahoma.
Her parents were John A. Holliday and Ruby Marie Colclazier. She was the third child born with 2 older sisters, JoAn and Mary.
Early years were spent at Holliday Farm where she began her love for animals. She helped her father care for the hunting dogs being kenneled there. She also traveled around the United States with her father, showing thoroughbreds and quarter horses. She would later apply and be accepted to the Cal Poly Pre Vet program but due to lack of female housing could not attend.
She was active in the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls in Oklahoma and served as Worthy Advisor in 1955.
After high school graduation, she entered the American Banking Institute and became a teller at a bank in Oklahoma City where she eventually met her husband James Lee (Jim) Jackson. He asked her for a date and their first date took place on Friday, July 13, 1962. From that point on they considered all Friday the 13th’s as lucky.
Eressia and Jim married on December 27, 1963 and soon moved to Houston, Texas to start a first-of-itskind business dedicated to the restoration of residential and commercial furnishings and contents damaged by fire, water and smoke. Jackson’s Restoration and Cleaning Company Incorporated., developed into a unique and highly successful business that grew in size and reputation over thirty years.
Eressia had 2 daughters, Christy Marie, from a former marriage, and Anne Holliday.
Summers were spent traveling the country in their GMC motorhome. They were known by their CB Handle as “The Travelin’ Texans.” In 1976 the family made a memorable bicentennial trip where they traveled from Sea to Shining Sea and saw America. The second phase of Eressia’s life was spent in Agra Oklahoma. Eressia and Jim sold Jackson’s Restoration and Cleaning Company Inc., and moved to Agra to raise cattle and to be closer to family and aging parents.
For many years they successfully raised Black Angus cattle. They often hired FFA students from the local high school to work on their ranch. Eressia and Jim loved being involved in their community. They attended school events such as ball games, Christmas programs and fundraisers. Eressia especially enjoyed going to the local basketball games. They became beloved supporters of their community.
Eressia was elected Secretary of the Board for the Rural Water District #4 for Lincoln County. She was repeatedly elected to this position for many years.
Eressia enjoyed gardening, bird watching and auctions. In their later years, she and Jim attended many live music events at the Agra Senior Center as well as other surrounding areas.
Illness led to her decline during COVID and she and her husband entered Southern Oaks Care Center in Pawnee in 2020.
Jim passed away from Covid December 29, 2020. Eressia moved to Fort Worth to be closer to her daughter Anne in November 2021.
She passed away peacefully in her sleep February 16, 2023.
She is survived by her daughters Christy Marie Jackson and Anne Holliday Alvarez.
She has 3 grand children, Jessica Holliday Dockstader, Daniel Alvarez and Andrew Alvarez.
Eressia was preceded in death by her parents, sisters Joan and Mary and brother Johnnie Holiday.
A Memorial Service will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 2, 2023, at the Chapel of Palmer Marler Funeral Home, Cushing.