Jacque Ann Gibson Ziegler
Oct. 5, 1951 - Nov. 5, 2020
Jacque Ziegler never met a song she wouldn’t dance to or an outcast she wouldn’t love on. Jacque passed away on Nov. 5, 2020 in Castle Rock, Colo. in the arms of her family after a battle with early-onset Alzheimer’s Disease. Her joyful spirit is carried on by her husband John, her four children, her sisters, friends and extended family from her dynamic and vibrant life in the Midwest.
We learned many valuable lessons from Jacque during her 69 years on the planet. Among them: Laughing is not to be done quietly, sequins are for wearing always, the Doobie Brothers should be played at full blast, and never drive past an antique shop without at least pressing a nose against the window.
Jacque was born in Toledo, Ohio in 1951, the daughter of Bonnie and Harold Gibson, and the second of five sisters. In her youth, Jacque delighted in Quarter Midget racing with her “Gibson Girls” sister squad and found her niche as an exuberant and talented cheerleader at Rogers High School where she graduated in 1969.
Jacque loved learning, even when it didn’t come easy. She was the first in her family to get a college degree, attending the University of Toledo and graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 1974. She was a proud UT cheerleader known for her Russian jump splits, and a Tri Delta sorority sister known for her infectious laugh.
Jacque met the love of her life and future husband, John Ziegler, during some fraternity shenanigans at UT during her sophomore year, and fell hard -- wooed by John’s nerdy, analytical demeanor and dynamite skills as the church organist at Judson Baptist. They married in 1976 at Monroe Street Methodist Church.
After college, Jacque went on to get an Associate’s Degree in Dental Hygiene, and worked as a Dental Hygienist in both Toledo and Southeastern Michigan -- a job she adored. She loved teaching her patients and delighted with them in their life stories and health improvements. In her later years, Jacque volunteered her dental hygiene services at free clinics in Southeast Michigan that worked with homeless populations and people with special needs.
But Jacque always said the job she loved the most was being a mom. She spent most of the 80s and 90s raising her four children in Toledo. She herded craft sessions at vacation bible school, taught her Monac Elementary Girl Scouts how to toboggan, spearheaded holiday collections and church fundraisers, built papier-mâché manageries, cheered on her budding Ziegler basketball players, dragged her kids to every Civil War historical site on the East Coast, and still somehow managed to fit all the neighborhood kids at the dinner table most nights.
She was an incredible and creative seamstress, designing (usually sequined) costumes for theater productions, church pageants, school projects, and Halloween parades -- and not just for her own kids, but for any kid that needed one. She built horse head masks and angel wings, Donald Duck pants and She-Ra capes, pirate vests and fairy princess wands -- and one notable year, an entire posse of neon clowns.
As the mother of a child with Down’s Syndrome, Jacque was a fierce advocate for inclusion education for her son, Andrew. She played a key role in building the infrastructure for a new style of mainstream special education programs for children with disabilities in Washington Local Schools. The programs she built would go on to be a nationwide model for families and school districts looking for a better, more inclusive way to educate children with special needs.
The Zieglers moved to Saline, Michigan in 1998 in pursuit of Jacque’s dream to raise her children in a small Midwestern town where the kids could “ride their bikes to the library.” The family joined Bethesda Bible Church in Ypsilanti, where they built strong relationships with the church community. Jacque’s faith in God and pursuit of biblical learning was a sustaining force in her life, particularly throughout her battle with Alzheimer’s.
Jacque is survived by her husband and best friend, John, and her four children, Adrienne Ziegler, Alexandra (Jonathon) Steiner, Andrew Ziegler, and Aaron Ziegler; her sisters Connie (Bob) Sintobin, Janice Ducey, Wendy (John) Hoffman, and Joy (Bob) Reaume, as well as nieces, nephews, friends and extended family too numerous to list. She is preceded in death by her brother, Richard Gibson; mother, Bonnie Gibson; and father Harold Gibson.
Please prepare your best sequin garb in her honor for this Celebration of Life. The family welcomes donations to the American Alzheimer's Association in Jacque's name as an expression of sympathy.