Barbara Jane Jackson

Barbara Jane Jackson

1927-2026

Born Barbara Jane Bond, July 13, 1927, to Elizabeth and Charles Bond in Pennsylvania. Youngest of five. As a toddler, she was held on the lap of George Washington Carver, a guest in their home.

Always physically joyful, at a young age Barbara led a pack of boys around the neighborhood, jumping out of haylofts and other feats of daring. She learned to ice-skate on frozen ponds and lakes in Pennsylvania and became a graceful skate dancer and later learned archery and gymnastics. She was a skillful seamstress, having learned from her mother. Growing up, she sewed most of her own clothes, sewed for her family, and taught her daughters to sew. Throughout her life she painted, following the artistic lead of her mother and her brothers and sister. The family home was filled with their landscapes and portraits. Through her paintings one can glimpse the beauty of the world through her eyes.

She graduated from Bucknell University. She later earned her Master’s Degree in Early Education from Bank Street College in New York City by attending night school, working during the day as a switchboard operator at the Missionary Orientation Center in Stony Point, New York, and raising three children on her own. She developed the first comprehensive childcare program for the children of missionaries on furlough and in training, insisting on color in the children’s area and furniture sized for children, both surprisingly radical ideas at the time. Children thrived. While working as a first-grade teacher in Pearl River, New York, she was the first in the district to introduce inter-racial and multi-ethnic materials into the classroom. She created the position of Play Therapist in the pediatric unit of Maine Medical Center and was known as “The Play Lady”. The welfare and wellbeing of children were always at the core of her life and heart’s work.

Led by faith throughout her life, she participated in the March on Washington along with her eldest daughter where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream Speech”, a dream she’s shared and promoted in her compassionate relationships with all people. During a time of aggressive nuclear build-up, she was active in Citizen’s Diplomacy, visiting and then leading tours to the U.S.S.R. when travel between our countries was still very restricted, in order to promote peace by fostering person-to-person contact. In Skagit County, she was a charter member of People for a Peaceable Planet.

She moved many times and wherever she lived she was active in her church. In Portland, Maine, she worked as lay minister serving people who were shut-in, incarcerated, or otherwise needing special attention, solace, counseling, or care. In Tucson, Arizona, as a member of St. Francis church, she worked to promote peace in a restless planet. As a member of Mount Vernon First United Methodist Church, she worked on the community outreach committee, served Community Meals in Sedro Woolley, helped with Family Promise, and other projects to support and care for the needs of people who are unsheltered, among many other community involvements.

She was an outspoken and informed advocate for the protection and preservation of the environment. For several years, as part of a “stream team” - a citizen’s science project associated with Padilla Bay - she and a friend could be seen in their wellies walking along streams or culverts monitoring the health of the water and fish. She could also be seen kneeling on the ground or even in the road, weeding the grounds of the former YMCA or her church. She has always loved weeding. Her father grew wonderful roses, and taught her the love of the earth, of tending to plants with gentle hands, and being of service. All of that is what she carries with her when she weeds.

When asked what she’d learned in her many years, Barbara said, “It’s all about love.” She continued to be that expression of love, felt by all who knew her. And she sang her whole life.

A memorial will be held Saturday, April 18, at 2:00 PM at Mount Vernon First United Methodist Church. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Mount Vernon First United Methodist Church, 1607 E Division St, Mount Vernon, WA 98274.