DECEMBER 22 – Julia Pauline “Polly” Jackson, 85, died in a car accident on US 460 near Burkeville Tuesday, December 8, 2009. Born in Brewsterdale, West Virginia, she was the widow of Desmond L. Jackson, a 20-year US Navy veteran and former vice consul for the US State Department missions in Cairo, Egypt, and Karachi, Pakistan.

Mrs. Jackson raised two sons in various locales around the world, but primarily in the Cairo suburb of Maadi. During the 1956 Suez Crisis, she oversaw the safe evacuation of her family to Italy. After retiring from public service, the Jacksons lived in Victoria and Tempe, AZ before settling on a farm in Green Bay. In 1995, Mrs. Jackson relocated to Farmville eight years after her husband's death.

She was a longtime member of Briery Country Club of Keysville and Victoria Golf Club. An avid and competitive golfer, she also enjoyed fishing and dancing. Refusing to age, Mrs. Jackson was known locally for telling people her age as “39 and holding” when asked, beginning in the mid 1960s until her death.

She is survived by a son, J. Wayne Jackson and daughter-in-law, Barbara of Paso Robles, CA; granddaughter, Andrea Jackson Parisi, wife of Anthony Parisi, of San Miguel, CA; grandson, Jason W. Jackson, of Oxford, OH, and siblings, John Myers of Hawaii, Emma Jo Dell'Orso of West Virginia, and Thelma Moore of Maryland; sisters-in-law, Marjorie Forrester of Oregon and Fran Stennett of Bedford, as well as her companion of many years, Howard Bragg of Victoria. She is predeceased by her husband, several siblings, and son, Jerry Desmond Jackson.

A memorial service will be held 11 a.m. Wednesday at Victoria Christian Church, Victoria. Burial will follow at Dale Memorial Park, 10201 Newbys Bridge Road, Chesterfield.

Shorter Funeral Home, Farmville, is in charge of arrangements.

www.shorterfuneralhome.com