Resident Spotlight

Rilla Jackson

On Feb. 10th, 1915, Ephraim and Ann Marilla Jacobson welcomed twins – Rilla and Reta, or Tootsie and Trixie as their family lovingly dubbed them. The large family of 10 children lived in Provo, Utah on a farm where Rilla’s father raised cattle and grew crops. She remembers her childhood as happy, full of hard work and play. Rilla always loved school and excelled in her classes, graduating from High School with top honors. There didn’t seem to be enough money for her to attend college, but a teacher who saw her potential arranged for her to have a job as a secretary in

the Extension Division of BYU thus enabling her to attend classes.

One day at a campus dance Orrin Jackson spotted Rilla and quickly arranged to have a date with her. That was 1935 and after a years’ courtship they married in the Manti Temple. Rilla and Orrin settled into the Provo Fifth Ward and started a lifetime of service in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Orrin worked in his father’s wool growing business for a time and then used his degree in business to work for Deseret Mortuary, Clark Clinic and was ultimately hired by BYU as an Admissions Officer, a position he held for over 25 years. Orrin and Rilla welcomed four children into their happy home: sons Russell, Earl and Byron, and, several years later, daughter Anne. Their home was filled with the activities of boys and their dedicated service in the Church. Orrin was actively involved in the Scouting program and spent time in the outdoors fishing and camping. Rilla was the perfect mother, facilitating the busy lives of her husband and children while also serving in many Church positions. She supported her husband with her wonderful entertaining and cooking skills as he served as Bishop of the Provo Ninth Ward and as a member of the Provo East Stake Presidency. Her children’s friends were always thrilled to be at the Jackson home where food was abundant and the atmosphere comfortable.

One of Rilla’s hobbies is genealogy and so with the progress of the Church into the technology age, she decided (in her eighties) to acquaint herself with the computer. You can expect to find her some time during each day busy at her desk working on her genealogy records, doing research on various subjects or reading her emails.

Her strong testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been exhibited by her service in the Church. She emanates goodness and purity of thought and action. She has a beautiful inner strength which she carries with grace. Those who know her use such adjectives as elegant, sweet, strong, kind, loving, and beautiful. She is the epitome of womanhood and is held in the highest of esteem by her posterity.