Obituaries

Co-founder of Monon Trailer dies

November 5, 1919 to May 17, 2011

MONON - Annabelle Jackson, passed away at 6:51 a.m. Tuesday, May 17, at Milner Community Health Care in Rossville, where she had been a patient for six weeks.

She was born Nov. 5, 1919, near a little town called Aix, near Rensselaer, to the late Ed and Flora (Bundy) Spurgeon. She married Keith Jackson on July 10, 1938. He died in 1992.

She is survived by two daughters, Kristel Kaye (Jim Berry) of Lafayette and Anne Ward (Dale) of Francesville. Also surviving are sisters, Elsie Cadwalader of Carmel; Eileen Spurgeon of West Lafayette; and Alta Hall (Cliff) of Lafayette. She is survived by nine grandchildren: Lorie Amick (Doug) and Lisa Smith (Garry) of West Lafayette; Craig Ehrlich (Jill) of Lafayette; Elaine McCann (Dave) of Goshen; Brian Ward (Dana) of Henderson, Kentucky; Angela Mainstone (Larry) of Pinehurst, North Carolina; Kerri Westerhouse (Rodney) of Valparaiso; Brad Ward (Anna) of Carmel; and Nikki Wireman (Sam) of Wheatfield. She is also survived by 27 great-grandchildren and two great-great grandsons.

Mrs. Jackson grew up in Barkley Township in Jasper County. Helping in the kitchen was just not her style, but she loved milking the cows and helping with the farm work. She was a member of the Rensselaer graduating class of 1938. For several years in the 1940's Annabelle and her husband operated a small airport in Hanging Grove Township near Rensselaer. During that time Annabelle learned to fly single-engine aircraft.

A few years later the husband-and-wife team started building small farm implement trailers and Annabelle learned to weld. When in 1952 they moved the business to Monon and began manufacturing semi-trailers, she taught many men to weld. The company, Monon Trailer, provided jobs for many men and women in the area. Today, 59 years later, there is still a trailer manufacturer in the same Monon location. The Lafayette-based trailer manufacturer, Wabash National, is a spin-off of the Monon business.

Mrs. Jackson was an accomplished pianist who could not only read music but was adept at playing by ear. She began playing piano for church services when she was 14 and continued providing piano and organ music for those services for more than 69 years. She was a member of the Monon Baptist Church and also an Eastern Star member for more than 60 years. After her husband's death she moved to Lafayette in 2004.

Visitation will be Thursday, from 5 to 8 p.m. with Eastern Star services at 7:30 p.m. at Clapper Family Funeral Home, Monon. The funeral service will begin at 11 a.m. Friday (May 20), at the First Baptist Church, Monon. Interment will follow in Memory Gardens, Rensselaer.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society or the Monon Volunteer Fire Department.