Yvonne Margarite (Beadsworth) Jackson, 83, of Marion, Massachusetts, passed away on June 28th in Glastonbury, Connecticut surrounded by family after a difficult battle with cancer. Yvonne was married to Richard Hills Jackson for 61 years. Yvonne was born August 10, 1934 in Calcutta India during the British Raj. Her parents, also born in India. Her father was a Captain in the British Army and her mother was a schoolteacher. Yvonne and her sisters Anita, Jean and Pat moved often in India through her father’s army assignments and had exciting adventures including tiger hunting, Indian monsoons, owning a pet monkey and other escapades. Yvonne was very close with her sisters. One of Yvonne’s most favorite parts of her history was her teacher and later principal at Saint Mary’s High School for Girls, Sister Teresa (later known as Mother Teresa). She grew up in Calcutta and became a stewardess with India Airlines where she met Richard Jackson through a blind date while he was in the Navy. Yvonne and Richard corresponded for two years until Richard proposed marriage via letter. Yvonne and Richard were married in 1957 on the US Navy Base in Yokosuka, Japan. They briefly lived on the Navy base in Sacramento, California before moving to Marion Massachusetts. Yvonne (and Richard) was a prominent member of the community, actively involved in many charities and clubs. She was one of the founding members of Marion’s first consignment store, Penny Pincher’s Exchange, which donated over $500,000 to the First Congregational Church of Marion. Yvonne was active with the Tobey Hospital Guild, Marion Women’s Club, Marion Mothers’ Club, Wareham Garden Club, Marion’s Council for Aging and First Congregational Church of Marion (holding the longest chair position of the White Elephant Table).
Yvonne and Richard’s passion for travel brought them to all corners of the world including Asia, Africa, North and South America, Australia, Europe and Antarctica. Yvonne was always looking forward to the next trip. Yvonne is survived by her three sisters Anita (Beadsworth) Gifford of Alicante, Spain, Jean (Beadsworth) Osborne of Barry, Wales and Patricia (Beadsworth) Bean of Bath, England, her daughters Jo Ann Watson and her husband Douglas Watson of Marion, Karen Jackson Milne and her husband Robert Milne of Sudbury, Massachusetts and Amy Jackson-Grove and her husband Wesley (Chopper) Grove of Glastonbury, Connecticut. Also surviving are her five loving grandchildren Alex Boonstra, Jackson Boonstra, Sonia Boonstra, Lucas Grove, Sarah Grove and a Brazilian Exchange student/son Cesar Zimmer.
A service to celebrate Yvonne’s life will be on August 10, 2018 at the Marion Music Hall, 164 Front Street, Marion, MA at 10am, reception to follow.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Penny Pinchers Exchange, Inc. 3 Wells Rd, Marion, MA 02738.