Jessica Alexander

Jessica Alexander of Columbus, MS, passed away peacefully on Saturday at home surrounded by her family. A Mass of the Resurrection will be celebrated at Annunciation Catholic Church on Wednesday, September 11, 2024, at 11:00 a.m., with Father Jeffery Waldrep as the celebrant. A visitation will precede the service at 10 a.m., with Memorial Funeral Home & Crematory in charge of arrangements. The interment will immediately follow the service at Friendship Cemetery.

Jessica was born on September 26, 1948, in Litchfield, Illinois, to James H. Alexander and Elsie Iacobucci Alexander. Growing up, she lived in 12 states and Puerto Rico while her father served in the United States Air Force. She graduated from high school at Ramey Air Force Base (Puerto Rico) in 1966, and received her nursing degree from St. Vincent Hospital School of Nursing (Worcester, Massachusetts) in 1969. Jessica earned her Bachelor’s in Nursing from the Mississippi University for Women in 1974, and a Masters in Maternal and Child Health from the University of Mississippi in 1977. Jessica began her teaching career at MUW in 1975, where, for 33 years, she devoted herself to teaching the next generations of nurses until her retirement in 2008. She always went the extra mile to ensure her students passed their classes and skill labs and ultimately their nursing boards. Jessica was also employed for years in the Obstetrics Department by Lowndes General Hospital (now Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle).

Jessica was a faithful member of Annunciation Catholic Church, where she belonged to the Katharine Drexel Bible Study Circle, Thursday Morning Bible Study, Senior First Friday Mass and Brunch Bunch, St. Marguerite Bunco Circle, and the Annunciation Bereavement Committee. She was also a member of the MUW Alumni Association and the Baptist Memorial Hospital Nurse Retirees.

Jessica was known and loved for her kindness and generosity. She lived her faith through a life of service, helping those in need in her nursing career and later, in her retirement: she always made time to visit the lonely, purchase food for the less fortunate, and share her delicious pound cakes to show she cared. Jessica also loved to crochet and many of her friends and family will forever cherish the beautiful baby blankets she made for their new babies. She adored her three cats Tiger Lily, Simba and Casper.

Jessica was blessed with one daughter, Amanda Alexander Koger (Joe), three grandchildren, Alex Koger (Tiffany), Jessica Koger Brownlee (Joshua) and Noah Koger, and three great grandchildren, Jak and Bella Koger and Thomas Nanney. She is also survived by her sisters, Patricia Alexander and Jamie Alexander Davidson (Jim), her brothers, James H. Alexander, Jr. (Kathy), and Mark Alexander, Sr. (Kathy), and many nieces and nephews. She will be missed by her many good friends, especially Betsy McIntyre, Evelyn Kay Beck and Sarah Howell who were devoted to her until her death.

Pallbearers will be grandsons, Alex Koger, Noah Koger, Joshua Brownlee, and nephews, Michael Davidson, Ben Davidson, and Mark Alexander, Jr.

The family would like to express their appreciation to Jessica’s caregivers Cassie Neal, Linda Brown, Diane Triplett, the staff of Baptist Memorial Hospice, Katrina Evans and Mississippi Home Care, and her doctors, Dr. Brett Brown, Dr. Amber Borden, Dr. Christopher Wang and Dr. John Christein.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Annunciation Catholic School, 223 N. Browder St., Columbus, MS, 39702, or Loaves & Fishes, P.O. Box 441, Columbus, MS, 39703-0441.