Jacqueline Maillet O'Rourke

Jacqueline Maillet O’Rourke, 62, of Columbus, Ohio, passed away peacefully on March 7, 2026, after a courageous eight-year battle with metastatic breast cancer. Born on January 25, 1964, in Portsmouth, Ohio, Jacquie was preceded in death by her parents, Chuck and Bea Maillet, and her nephew Charlie Maillet III. She is survived by her husband of 27 years, Tom O’Rourke, their daughter Katie O’Rourke of Columbus, sisters Julie Ilhardt of Lincolnton, Georgia, and Charlene Counts (Rick) of Las Vegas, Nevada, brother Chip Maillet (Ginger) of Portsmouth, Ohio, and a large extended family of in-laws, nieces, nephews, and cousins around the world.

Jacquie grew up surrounded by family and friends who adored her. She marched in the band, cheered, played softball, and shone as an award-winning actress in Portsmouth High School and Portsmouth Little Theatre productions. As a high school exchange student in Orizaba, Mexico, she formed lifelong friendships, gained fluency in Spanish, and nurtured a deep love of language and culture that led her to earn a bachelor’s degree in Global Communications from Ohio University. She cherished travel throughout her life, from childhood cross-country trips and family reunions in Virginia to memorable journeys to Mexico, Maui, Florida, Cancun, Cabo, California, Maine, and, in her final years, Istanbul, London, Paris, and Rome shared with loved ones.

A lifelong lover of games, Jacquie played blackjack, backgammon, euchre, board games, and poker with fierce competitiveness and infectious joy. She once won a poker tournament at the Rio in Las Vegas, famously knocking her own husband out along the way, and had a fearless habit of hitting 16 against a dealer’s ten at the blackjack table while turning every table into a circle of laughter and camaraderie.

Jacquie began her career in radio at her family’s station, WIOI in Portsmouth, where she was known as “Jacquie Maillet, your favorite afternoon female DJ.” After working in Mexico for Televisa, she returned to Ohio and joined Shawnee State University’s housing department, where she met her future husband, Tom. The couple married in 1998 while both worked at the University of Dayton. In 2000 they moved to the University of Maryland in College Park, where their daughter Katie was born in 2003. Jacquie considered raising Katie into the young woman she is today her greatest achievement. After returning to Ohio in 2013, she worked in social media content creation for several organizations.

Diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer in 2009, Jacquie faced her illness with remarkable grit. She underwent a mastectomy and reconstruction, and when the cancer returned as metastatic disease in 2017, she fought for more than eight years—far beyond her initial two-year prognosis—determined to spend as much time as possible with her family and friends. She was deeply grateful for those extra years that allowed her to watch her daughter grow into adulthood. Jacquie was magnetic and magnificent, a woman whose radiant smile, sharp sense of humor, and zest for life touched everyone she met. She never knew a stranger, and all who knew her are better for having stood in her light. She will be dearly missed.