Jane Frances Jackson

Jane Frances Jackson of Chicago, Illinois died on Friday October 11, 2024, with her daughter, Julie, at her side. She was 95 years old. Jane was born in Albert Lea, Minnesota, the first born daughter of Floyd and Agnes Cipra.

She grew up on the family farm near Newry, Minnesota, and attended high school in Blooming Prairie. Jane loved singing in the choir at Red Oak Grove Lutheran Church, and participating in 4H. She was the 4H Style Queen for several years, receiving highest marks for sewing her designs, and for modeling in fashion shows.

As a young woman, Jane became a laboratory technician, and began her career in Albert Lea Minnesota, working tirelessly during the Polio epidemic. She later moved to Minneapolis to join a kidney transplant research team at the University of Minnesota. She graduated from Northwestern University in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts in English, followed by a career at the American Medical Association (AMA), and later as a writer for the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Her last decade of work was as a real estate agent.

Jane loved spending time with her daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren, visiting them often, and traveling with them to Paris. She loved swing dancing as a teenager, later winning contests in the 60’s for the Twist, and finally, made a weekly practice of dancing the Tango as a member of the Tango Club of Chicago. She had a lifelong fascination with water and loved her daily view from her condo of Lake Michigan. Jane delighted in swimming, boating in Lake Michigan, and vacationing on cruise ships to Hawaii, and throughout the Caribbean.

Jane is survived by her daughter, Julie Lesnikowski (Wojciech Lesnikowski, deceased) of Evanston, Illinois, three granddaughters, Alexandra Lesnikowski (Brian Vermeire), of Montreal Canada, Miranda Winston (Renner Winston) of Woodstock, Illinois, and Natalie Lesnikowski (Nicholas Troll) of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, two great granddaughters, Caroline and Elizabeth Lesnikowski-Vermeire, and her sister, JoAnn Cipra of Santa Rosa, California. One brother, Jack Cipra of La Jolla, California preceded her in death.

A graveside service for Jane will be held at 1:00PM on Thursday, April 10, 2025, at Lakewood Cemetery in Albert Lea.