Rena Ventura-Jackson

Obituary Rena Ventura-Jackson of Odessa, TX passed away on August 5, 2026, in Odessa.

Funeral services will be held at 9:00 am on Thursday, August 13, 2026, at Sunset Memorial Gardens and Funeral Home, 6801 East Business 20, Odessa TX, at graveside only. Father Tim Hayter of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish and Shrine, officiant.

Rena was born in Dallas, TX to Anthony and Rosalie Ventura on October 15, 1950. She went to Sacred Heart in Dallas through Jr. High School and on to Bishop Lynch High in Dallas. Then she went to college at East Texas Normal College in Commerce, TX (now a part of the Texas A & M system). She later transferred to and graduated from the University of Texas Health Science Center located at that time in Arlington TX. She married David Jackson on July 5, 1983, in Big Spring TX. After having worked as a peer counselor in a couple jobs in and around Austin, TX, Rena settled in for a 16-year run as an academic/personal counselor at Odessa College in Odessa. After her retirement in 1998, we never stopped having her past students come up to greet her and praise the guidance she provided them when they were in college.

Rena is preceded in death by her parents, Anthony and Rosalie Ventura and her sister, Antonina Askew.

Rena is survived by her husband, David Jackson, her brother, Nicky Ventura, and numerous nieces and nephews, mostly living in the Dallas area.

Memorials are not requested, but if the mood strikes, may be given in her name to any charity or cause that you have faith in.

We wish to extend our sincere thanks to Dr. Laurence Voesack and his nurse and staff for their excellent care over the years, and to the nurses and CNAs at Home Hospice for their superb comforting care in the last days of Rena’s journey. Let us not leave out our many loving friends, who provided consistent loving aid and prayers. Thank you all.