Jacqueline Arleen Mack Nikoliqi, 65, of Santa Maria, CA, passed away peacefully in her sleep on Thursday, July 30, 2026, in Madison, Alabama. Jackie was born at Scott Air Force Base (SAFB), Belville, Illinois in 1961 to McKinley and Bernice Mack and she was the third child after Sylvia and Cassandra. When Jackie was still and infant her father received orders and was transferred from SAFB to Clark Air Base (CAB), Philippines. The family of five very much enjoyed life at Clark. After three years her father again received orders and the family was transferred to Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, DC. The family lived there for four years. It was a good tour, since it was close to relatives who lived in the DC/Maryland area. During this tour of duty, Jackie’s baby sister Mickey was born. Not long after Mickey was born, her father received orders again to CAB, Philippines. Jackie and her sisters attended school there.
While they lived overseas, the family was fortunate to travel and visit Taipei, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. This is probably where her eventual love of travel was planted in Jackie. The next tour of duty for her father was in California at Vandenberg Air Force Base, now called Space Force Base. Jackie attended Buena Vista elementary school and Cabrillo high school in Lompoc, CA and graduated from Righetti High School in Santa Maria, CA. Upon graduation she went straight into nursing. She worked as an emergency department technician at Marian Medical Center in Santa Maria, CA and she completed the vocational nursing program and an associate’s degree in life science at Allan Hancock College (AHC), Santa Maria, CA. From AHC Jackie transferred to California Polytechnic State University as a ROTC cadet where graduated and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army.
She served as an Ordnance and Logistics Officer with the Department of the Army from 1982 to 1991, and then as a Configuration Management Manager with the Department of the Navy from 1991 to 1993. During her time in the military, Jackie was stationed at Schofield Barracks, Oahu, Hawaii. She would then separate from the Army and become a Reservist. Jackie transferred to Mannheim Germany (DE) to live with her mother, father, and youngest sister. She worked on post at Worms DE as a Logistician. She was also a student at the University of Maryland while living in Germany. Additionally, Jackie and the family traveled extensively throughout all of Europe. Her favorite country was Italy.
After leaving German, her next tour of duty was Aberdeen, Maryland where she separated from the military. This is also where she gave birth to the joy of her life, Gerald Preston Thompson Jr. She lived and worked in the DC area for several years before moving back home to Santa Maria, CA. Her third career spanned more than two decades as a Senior Business Systems Analyst specializing in PeopleSoft Financials and Supply Chain Management. She traveled, led implementations, upgrades, and support for organizations including Texas Health and Human Services, the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Maersk Line Limited, Kaiser Permanente, Expedia, Qualcomm, and the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges. The work carried her across the country and as far as Heistop-den-Berg, Belgium. She held Project Management Professional and Agile Scrum Master certifications. Teaching ran through all of it. She built training programs, wrote manuals, and recorded the videos, ran train-the-trainer sessions, and mentored teams of junior analysts and consultants. She never stopped being a student either. She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and business management from the University of Maryland in 1985, while on active duty with the Army, returned to the same university for a second degree in business administration in 2013, and was pursuing her MBA.
Jackie was preceded in death by her parents, McKinley (2004) and Bernice Mack (2025). She is survived by her son Gerald Thompson, whom she adored and daughter-in-law, Tamoya Thompson and her three beloved grandsons; Zion, Zacheriah, and Zairen Thompson; and her three loving sisters, Sylvia Jones, Cassandra Hart, and Michelle Thompson, three brothers-in-law, and a host of nieces, nephews, and cousins.
A Celebration of Life will be held at noon on Saturday, August 29, 2026, in Harvest, Alabama, at the home of her baby sister and care giver Michelle and brother-in-law, Cecil Thompson.
Arrangements are under the direction of Spry Funeral Home, Huntsville, Alabama. Condolences and remembrances may be shared with the family in person during the Celebration of Life ceremony.
