Former First Lady of Atlanta Bunnie Jackson-Ransom dies at 82
Bunnie Jackson-Ransom
ATLANTA - Bunnie Jackson-Ransom, a well-respected Black entrepreneur, public relations specialist, and the ex-wife of Atlanta’s first Black mayor has died. She was 82.
"The City of Atlanta is sending prayers of comfort and peace to the family of Bunnie Jackson-Ransom. The former wife of Mayor Maynard Jackson was an incredible force of her own," said Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens.
"I am deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Mrs. Bunnie Jackson-Ransom. My deepest condolences are extended to her family, friends, and colleagues," Atlanta City Council member Michael Julian Bond wrote in a statement on Thursday.
Jackson-Ransom was born on Nov. 16, 1940 in Louisburg, North Carolina to Burnell James Hayes and Elizabeth Day Hayes. She would graduate magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in business and a minor in education from North Carolina College. She would go on to earn her master’s degree in business from North Carolina Central University School of Business and Economics in 1969.
"She was a trailblazer, in whatever venture in which she pursued. Intellectual, gracious, and everlastingly beautiful," Bond wrote.
Jackson-Ransom, after graduation, would serve as an instructor of business and supervisor of secretarial services at Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina. She eventually relocated to Georgia, where she would join the Economic Opportunity Atlanta, Inc. During her five-year tenure, she would serve as a contract specialist, program coordinator, director of planning and program development.
That is also when she would meet an upcoming politician, Maynard Jackson. The two would marry in 1965. Eight years later, she would become the first Black first lady of Atlanta after her husband broke the color barrier for the city’s top executive office. The two would divorce by the end of Jackson’s first term.
"I will forever remember our former First Lady for her lively spirit and the boundless energy she brought to all that she undertook," Mayor Dickens wrote.
In 1975, Jackson-Ransom founded firstClass, Inc., specializing in public relations and marketing. She eventually would build a small, but formidable firm taking on such clients as The National Conference of Black Mayors, Waste Management, Inc. and the Burger King Corporation.
"She was a leader in business, whether communications, the music industry, or politics," Bond wrote.
Jackson-Ransom would remarry, this time to Raymond Ransom, best known as the bass player for the musical group Brick.
From 1979 to 1983, she was the owner and operator of Airport Amusement Concessions at Atlanta’s airport.
She would go on to serve as Chief Administrative Officer of a conglomerate company under the umbrella of Atlanta Artists and president of Atlanta Artists Management. During that time, she would help negotiate for such big names like CAMEO and Larry Blackmon, The SOS Band and Cashflow, earning them gold and then platinum record status.
During the 80s, she would impart the knowledge she learned during that time to the next generation, teaching at an "Artist Representation" course at Georgia State University.
"Intellectual, gracious, and everlastingly beautiful, I feel humbled to have benefited from having known her. Her physical presence may have passed, but the example of her life, beauty, intellect, and purpose remains an inspiration to us all," Bond wrote.
Jackson-Ransom would appear in three major documentaries: "Ali’s Comeback" about Atlanta role in Muhammad Ali’s return to boxing in the US, "Maynard" which took a look at Atlanta’s first Black mayor, and "Atlanta's Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children" a mini-series exploring the disappearance of nearly three dozen children during the late 1970s.
She was part of the Atlanta League of Women Voters, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Executive Committee member of the Atlanta branch of the NAACP, the Azalea Chapter of The Links, Inc., the Metropolitan Atlanta Coalition of 100 Black Women and the National Council of Negro Women. She was also an active member of the Cascade United Methodist Church.
Jackson-Ransom would earn such awards as the Outstanding Young Women in America and the community service award from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in January 2008.
She was also listed in Who’s Who in American Women, Who’s Who in Georgia and Who’s Who in Black America, Dollars and Sense Magazine as one of "America’s Top 100 Black Business and Professional Women", and Atlanta’s "Top 100 Women of Influence" by the Atlanta Business League.
In 2021, she would release an autobiography of her life titled "Memoirs of a Life Well Lived".
"She was a PR wiz and marketing pro, an educator and an author. But perhaps most importantly, she was a wife, mother and grandmother," Dickens wrote.
"She was not only a successful businesswoman, the former first lady of the city of Atlanta, and community and social activist, but she was also a grandmother, mother, phenomenal woman, mentor, and friend. Bunnie possessed a warm heart, keen intellect, and a gracious, loving spirit," Bond wrote.
Jackson-Ransom leaves behind four children: Beth Jackson Hodges, Brooke Jackson Edmond, Rae Yvonne Ransom and Maynard H. Jackson, III, and five grandchildren. She is proceeded in death by her parents, her husband, and ex-husband.
"Bunnie loved this city and we loved her back. Our condolences to the Jackson and Ransom families during this time," the mayor wrote.
"Good night, sweet princess, and may flights of angels sing thee to thy rest," Bond concluded his statement.
Services have not been announced.