Jacquelyn Lee Borgeson-Zimmer, born Oct. 9, 1968, in New Jersey, passed away just before dawn on Monday Jan. 5. Raised in Port Clinton, OH by her mother, Sue Boreman, Jackie, as she was affectionately known, was an industrious worker from a young age, graduating from high school with scholarships waiting. She attended Cumberland College in Williamsburg, Kentucky, followed by a master’s degree in Museum Studies from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.
From there, she ventured forth seeking the museum of her dreams... Little did she know that it would be a safari museum in Kansas of all places: the Martin and Osa Johnson Safari Museum, Chanute, Kansas. That first visit to the museum was all it took— she was smitten by the museum and the couple it memorialized. The icing on the cake, of course, was finding out that she shared a birthday with Martin Johnson. Jackie quickly found herself as the curator of education at the Safari Museum: a job she thoroughly reveled in.
Although her accomplishments were numerous, she was most proud of furthering the museum’s goal of making the incredible story of Martin and Osa Johnson accessible and known to all ages far and wide. The Safari Museum is very family-oriented and education- focused, and she created many hands-on exhibits and events designed for visitors both big and small. Her museum tea party fundraisers were always a highlight of the year.
Jackie was also instrumental in building relationships with museums and Johnson fans around the globe (as well as fans of Elizabeth Main Le Blond, et al.). Her work opened the door for her to travel around the world on speaking and consultation visits, as well as helping to set up museums in Borneo, Burkino Faso, and, most recently, at Lake Marsabit in Kenya.
When not circumnavigating the globe, Jackie would reach out to area schools seeking volunteer docents to help at the museum. These kids hadn’t always “fit in” until they came to the museum. They became Jackie’s “museum kids”— all of whom she loved as if they were her own children maintaining relationships with them long after they left Chanute. This is just another example of how she connected with people throughout the country and multiple continents.
Jackie was loved well and deeply by her found family, Tracey (Hiday) and Kevin Harshbarger, Paul, Sandi, Mike, & Steve Hiday; her beloved niece Ashleigh “Monkey” Harshbarger; and by her adoring husband, Lloyd Zimmer (formerly of Topeka, Kansas).
Lloyd and Jackie married on Dec. 16, 2014, and Jackie found in Lloyd the fellow explorer she longed for but never expected.
Lloyd joined her adventures, and the two of them continued much of her work traveling to Lake Paradise and other parts of Kenya; Vanuatu and the island of Malekula, where they met descendants of the late great cannibal and warrior King Nagapate; Graystones/ Dublin, Ireland sharing the work of Victorian photographer and mountain climber, Elizabeth Main Le Blond; and Prague, where Jackie was “the movie star from Kansas” being featured in the award-winning documentary of Jan and Romi Svatos, ”The Ark of Lights and Shadows;” and so many other adventures together throughout the U.S.
Even prior to marriage, Jackie was lovingly welcomed by Lloyd’s parents, Helen and Joe, as well as his sister Sharon and her family.
In lieu of a funeral, a celebration of Jackie’s life will be scheduled for early spring when it is hoped those touched by Jackie in life can come together and personally share her meaning to them. Should you be so inclined, rather than flowers, Jackie would have liked memorial contributions be made to the Martin and Osa Johnson Safari Museum of Chanute, Kansas. Arrangements have been entrusted to Countryside Funeral Home.
