Jacki O’Donnell
Davenport, IA

Update for 55th reunion – So I am still in Davenport, from 1982. I finally retired from paid work in 2019, ready to see the world. We all know how that turned out. My last position was as Executive Director of the Quad Cities Cultural Trust, a privately endowed fund for support of the arts in the Quad Cities Region. During COVID I took up a hobby, cyanotype printing. It’s a combo of science and art that appeals to me. I spend time in NC with my daughter Jackie, the professional dog behaviorist, and in St. Louis with my son Pat, a lawyer. No grandkids, thanks for asking.

Of course the major influence on my life, besides Jeanne, has been my 13 siblings. Remarkably, we are all still upright and thriving. Eight of us live in Iowa, which gives us a quorum to conduct business, a power we wield sparingly. To you all, live long and prosper.

This photo is from the Wayback Machine.  Jeanne and I have traveled together since we were 16.
One of my cyanotype prints

From 50+1 reunion – 51 years since Ballard High:

I have always lived in Iowa. Slater, Ames, Iowa City and now Davenport for the past 39 years.

I ran a gamut of jobs, including 23 years at home raising my children. I volunteered relentlessly for non-profit organizations; at one point I started my own nonprofit for community gardening. My final job was as Executive Director of the Quad Cities Cultural Trust, a privately endowed fund to support the arts in the Quad Cities. I’m
retired now, the job I was born for.

I raised two very fine children, Pat and Jackie Mobley, who are living out their passions in life, Pat as a civil rights attorney, and Jackie as an organic farmer and animal wrangler. I do not have grandchildren; thank you for asking.

The pandemic kept me from my children, my family, and my friends. Luckily I am an introvert and managed enough human contact to keep me sane. I decided to make face masks as a Zen practice, and donated them to a refugee organization, to a civil rights organization, to family, friends and neighbors. In the side mirror I see the pandemic retreating, but “objects in (the) mirror are closer than they appear” certainly applies.

Stay safe, stay well.

Photo below from left: Jackie Mobley, Jacki O’Donnell, Jackie O’Donnell