Jackie Ray Vann, 87, passed away peacefully on September 23, 2026, surrounded by his family. He was born July 15, 1939, in Fayetteville, Cumberland County, North Carolina, to the late Gladys Inez Beasley Vann. Funeral Services will be held-3:00 PM Sunday, September 27, 2026 at Rose and Graham Funeral Chapel in Benson. The family will receive friends from 2:00-2:45 PM prior to the service. Burial will follow in Ebenezer Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Coats. 

On July 5, 1959, Jackie married Lalon Sue Vann, and together they shared more than 67 years of marriage. Their life together was built through decades of work, family, hardship, perseverance, and commitment to one another. Jackie was a husband, father, grandfather, brother, provider, and friend who worked hard throughout his life to care for his family.

He loved his family deeply and worked hard throughout his life to provide for them. As a husband, father, grandfather, and brother he gave his family a sense of security and dependability that stayed with them throughout his life.

Jackie honorably served in the United States Army and later built a long career with the United States Postal Service. His work there became an important part of the story of his life, especially after a devastating accident at the age of 50 left him paralyzed from the neck down.

The prognosis after that accident could easily have defined the rest of his life. Instead, Jackie spent months in rehabilitation and physical therapy, working to regain strength and mobility. Through extraordinary persistence, he recovered enough function to return to work at the United States Postal Service and eventually retired after continuing his career there. That chapter of his life reflected something deeply characteristic of Jackie: he endured.

His life would bring other serious health challenges as well. Over the years, Jackie faced major medical hardships and periods of declining health, yet he continued forward through circumstances that would have overwhelmed many people. Just as remarkable as his resilience was the good cheer he so often carried with him. He had a way of enduring without allowing hardship to define the whole story of who he was.

Jackie was not a man who always spoke openly about what he carried emotionally or spiritually. His faith was often quieter than his endurance. But those who knew his life could see something deeper in the way he kept going, worked, provided for his family, and faced hardship without giving up. His life showed a strength expressed less in words than in perseverance.

In his more active years, Jackie enjoyed bowling, golf, and baseball. He loved music of all kinds, especially country music. He was a homebody at heart, but he was also very much a people person. He had an easy, welcoming way about him and made people feel comfortable, whether they had known him for years or had just met him.

He was also a lifelong Tar Heel fan, with a deep love for UNC football and basketball. Carolina games were something he always looked forward to, and he followed the Tar Heels faithfully through the years. Win or lose, his loyalty to Carolina never changed, and those who loved him will think of him whenever the Tar Heels take the field or the court.

During his years at Springbrook in Clayton, Jackie especially enjoyed playing bingo. Winning was part of the fun, but so was giving. He became known for sharing his bingo winnings with other residents, a small but fitting reflection of his generous and welcoming nature.

Even as his health declined in later years, the qualities that had marked so much of his life remained visible: good cheer, humor, generosity, determination, and love of family.

Jackie is survived by his wife, Lalon Sue Vann; his daughter, Kelli Sue Vann; his son and daughter-in-law, Christopher Ray and Emily Rhodes Vann; his grandchildren, Thomas Riker Vann and Amelia Rhodes Vann; and his sister and brother-in-law, Jane Vann Ziamanesh and Ali Ziamanesh.

He was preceded in death by his mother, Gladys Inez Beasley Vann; his stepfather, Ennis L. Vann, who raised him; and his brothers, Max Allen Vann and Wayne Vann and half-brothers J.R. Vann and Joseph Vann.

In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that memorial contributions be made in Jack’s honor to the SECU Hospice House in Smithfield, North Carolina, in gratitude for the compassionate care provided to him and his family.

His family will remember Jackie for his strength, his good cheer, the way he cared for the people he loved, and the life he continued to build through every season.