Annetta Retiring, Will Miss Most of Us
Dec. 9, 2021 – It’s going to be quieter around the office after Dec. 30. That’s Annetta Jackson’s retirement date after 24½ years in the office as a clerk, a receptionist and a daily dispenser of unvarnished free opinions, advice and observations on life in the office.
“It’s time,” she said. “I’m ready to not get up in the morning and come in. I’m not going to miss everybody, but there’s a lot of people I’m going to miss.”
Annetta was working as a temp in probation and parole on the 8th floor at 201 Poplar and was delivering mail to the DA’s 3rd floor office when she heard about a job opening there.
A short time later, on July 1, 1997, she was hired as a clerk helping investigators get dockets ready for court.
“I guess it was my charming personality,” Annetta said with a laugh. “It was something new to me and I really enjoyed it. I was always watching Madlock and Perry Mason and Columbo so it was interesting to see how a criminal prosecution office worked. It was the Lord shining on me.”
Admittedly outspoken, Annetta said she “bumped heads” with some colleagues over “little bitty stuff” involving paperwork and procedures, but that after a while life in the office was all good…mostly.
Once when a prosecutor brushed a stack of files off his desk and onto the floor because they were not alphabetized, Annetta refused to pick them up.
As she recalled: “I told him ‘I’m not your wife, I’m not your maid and I’m not your housekeeper. You have to clean up your own mess.’”
On another occasion, Annetta recalls helping a prosecutor look for a court document, a time-consuming and futile search that she finally declared to be over.
“I told him ‘You need to stop beating this dead horse. It’s already dead.’”
After two dozen years I can say with some authority that Annetta has the personality and spunk of 10 people. She is always willing to pitch in to get the job done and when holidays roll around, Annetta is the first one volunteering to organize a gathering—even down to telling you exactly what to bring. You can’t help but smile when you see her in the office –mainly because of the twinkle in her eyes and the fact that you knew she was up to something. We will miss her greatly.
Annetta was born in Chicago and grew up in Memphis with her three siblings.
“Daddy always told us to speak our minds, be truthful, own up to what you do and everything will work out,” she said. “I tried my best to raise my children the same way. Don’t back down, but don’t start a fight. And don’t disrespect anyone.”
Her two daughters include Anissa Jackson Smith, a supervisor at a healthcare laundry service, and Brandy Jackson, a senior financial analyst at the Memphis Police Department.
Annetta enjoyed working with the public as the receptionist in the Lower Level, though that too required toning down her natural desire to share her unfiltered opinions.
“One day a lady who had been beaten came in with both eyes swollen and she was going to drop charges against the guy who did it,” Annetta said. “I told her ‘You can’t even see, and you’re dropping charges on somebody? (Chief Prosecutor) Mike Boyle looked at me and said ‘Annetta, you can’t say that.’ I said ‘Well, look at her.’
“I kinda got the hang of dealing with the public, but it took me a minute.”
Annetta plans to stay busy in retirement by continuing to spoil two young great-grandchildren, cooking and trying new recipes, reading mysteries and traveling abroad. In recent years she has visited Spain (twice) and Italy, and would like to make the trip to Paris that she had to cancel last year because of Covid restrictions.
She also will work hard to avoid creating an international incident like the one that nearly occurred in an Italian gelato shop just off of Vatican Square.
“They served it in a cone, but I told the store owner I wanted mine in a cup,” Annetta said. “He said cone and I said ‘I’m paying for it and I want it in a cup.’ Then he said, ‘Get of my shop.’ He didn’t call the police or anything.
“But I was really nice in Spain.”