Donna Sue Cottrell Lawson Jackson was called to her final reward peacefully on February 1, 2020. Coming from humble beginnings, she was influential to many who were lucky enough to know her. Donna had a strong passion for life, family and friends and was gracious to all who met and knew her. She was a good non-judgmental listener that had a remarkable ability to put others at ease so that they were comfortable being with her.

Donna is survived by her husband of 40 years, Charles Jackson .

She came from a relatively large family with five siblings, two sisters and three brothers. Her father, Grant Cottrell , and mother, Ena Cherry , as well as one of her brothers, Robert Cottrell , preceded her in death. She is survived by the remainder of her family— Carolyn Marrs (husband Charles), Mary Whitton (husband Marvin-deceased), Jim Cottrell (wife Frieda), and David Cottrell (wife Margret).

Donna married her childhood friend and sweetheart, Mason Lawson in 1970 and had two children, Tamera Harlow (husband Burt) and Trent Lawson . In addition, she has three grandchildren, Britny Swanberg (husband Dustin), Alisa Lawson and Mason Lawson (Jr) , and two great-grandchildren, Andrew James Floyd Swanberg and Maxine Harlow Swanberg .

Donna's humble childhood grounded her personality as well as  spurring her generosity and straightforward friendship. Her generosity is well known, because she felt that those who did good or exceptional work deserved recognition and rewards. Her favorite time of year was the Christmas season, largely because it was the season of giving, but more importantly to her, she wanted to make sure that all around her did not want for anything important. She went out of her way do something special for her friends and acquaintances. Rao's bakery will sorely miss her, as her penchant for giving birthday cakes was legendary.

Her fierce devotion to family meant that she always kept in touch with those she loved and she always made sure that the children around her knew that they were safe and loved. This evolved into her being a main contact for the family. When someone wanted to know what was happening, they called Donna.

She was an imaginative party planner, and actively tried to make all special occasions, such as birthdays, holidays, etc., both memorable and fun. Many times, special decorations adorned the house, special costumes were made and requests for special events were often granted, some even while in the battle with the cancer that would eventually end her life.

Donna never had a career in the standard sense. She often talked about her time working as waitress. Here, she learned the value of service and the appreciation of those in service. She had always wanted to do something important for other people. At one time, she toyed with working with the Make A Wish foundation, but never did get started. However, she tried to care for any little ones that she met. This included neighbors, friends, and even people she met casually.

Though Donna believed in community and fellowship, she was not a joiner. She encouraged the children to follow the normal clubs, but she was reluctant to commit to any official organization. However, she did find friendship, and comfort at a local restaurant. Lupe Tortilla was a small restaurant opened in Addicks, a community in West Houston, Texas. After finding the restaurant in the early 1990's, she spent almost every Friday night at Lupes. Because of the hours of operation, it was often a mad dash to arrive so that we would have a comfortable evening. But while there, she developed several friendships that were just centered around the time at the restaurant.

She lost a lot of this spirit when forced to move to Austin, Texas in 2000. There were similar businesses but nothing that matched Lupes.

When returning to the Houston area in 2004-5, it was much too far to renew the old relationships. But when a new Lupe Tortilla opened near the Magnolia residence, she began to immediately grow a community around that location. Some of the restaurant servers understood and accepted her. In fact, while her husband worked overseas in Algeria, she spent lot of time communing at Lupes.

It is difficult to articulate how much she enjoyed and treasured the people and times at this place.

Donna had a passion for life and was impatient with slow, leisurely events. She probably never saw an entire movie in her life, because she was always multitasking—reading, doing chores, baking, cleaning, sleeping. This passion also drove her out of the house, leading to a desire to travel and see the world. As an international tourist, she traveled across 3 continents as well as much of the continental US, Alaska and Hawaii. In addition to visiting the international monuments and events, she lived in some interesting times. While married to Mason, she was in Berlin, Germany before the fall of the infamous wall, and for a short time with her future husband, she was in Guatemala during the fall of the Somoza dynasty, an event affecting much of Central America.

Because of this love of life, Donna hated hospitals more than anything. Before 1990, she was proud of the fact that she had only been in the hospital three times—once for tonsils and twice to have children. When hospitalized with serious diseases, congestive heart failure and lung cancer, she was always trying to get out from the moment she was admitted, continually haranguing the medical staff to release her. It was difficult to get her to go to the ER or the hospital for help, even when in severe distress.

Donna was a very special lady. She is gone, and has taken her smile, love, passion, generosity, friendship, dignity, assurance, poise with her.

Her total presence will be sorely missed.