Sylvia Ann Jackson

 

Sylvia Ann Jackson, (Sylvie) age 73, passed away peacefully at her home in Gig Harbor, Washington on the evening of August 7, 2019, surrounded by her husband Geoffrey, and her three children. Sylvie succumbed to cancer after a courageous and dignified fight. We will be forever grateful for the invaluable help & compassion of the Gig Harbor Multicare Oncology and Hospice staffs, who helped us through this dark time.

Sylvie was born September 28, 1945, in Preston, England. After her marriage to Geoffrey they spent three years in Bermuda, & 37 years in Miami, Florida before moving to Gig Harbor, which Sylvie chose as her final resting place.

Immediately after finishing high school, where she was captain of the swim team, and attending college in the UK, Sylvie worked in Preston as a telephone operator. Shortly after her first child was born, she put her own career aspirations on hold to focus on her growing family. When two more babies arrived, both of which Sylvie cherished as precious gifts, never was anyone happier to put her dreams aside. In Miami, Sylvie became a lifetime sister of Beta Sigma Phi and shared many wonderful hours organizing charity affairs and chapter events with her sisters. As her children moved away to college to begin their own successful lives, Sylvie returned to work in the field of travel, a goal she had previously, selflessly long deferred. Sylvie purchased and operated a highly successful international travel agency in Coconut Grove, Florida. She also started and ran a skiing wholesale company and eventually bought a rental property business which she operated with the help of her husband Geoffrey. After traveling all over the world for her own business purposes, and frequently accompanied Geoffrey on his overseas  trips, Sylvie again sacrificed her personal pleasures and business obligations to take on the full-time, and by far Sylvie’s favorite, role as a loving and nurturing grandmother. Nothing could have stopped Sylvie from fulfilling that dream. In 2006, Sylvia exchanged the Southeast for the Pacific Northwest where she threw her heart into her second and third favorite pastimes, gardening and home remodeling. Rarely was Sylvie ever seen thereafter without either a paint roller, sewing needle or trowel in her hand, and a wide smile on her pretty face.

Sylvie’s life was a living example of how to love one’s children, how to set a shining example for her grandchildren to follow and how to cherish her friends and neighbors in a manner sprinkled with qualities too numerous to mention.

Sylvie is survived by Geoffrey, her devoted husband for more than 50 years, son Andrew C. Jackson and his wife Julia, daughter Nichola K. Smith and her husband Gregory and youngest son Gary S. Jackson and his wife Nichole, and by six adorable grandchildren, the lights of Sylvie’s life, Chase and Peyton Smith, Christopher and Emily Jackson and Lauren and Natalie Jackson. Sylvie also left behind her adoring brother James Crewdson, and his wife Mary, a dear sister-in-law Barbara Ball and numerous nephews nieces, great nephews and great-nieces, including; Michael, Tammy, Victoria, Elizabeth, Geoffrey, Mirjam, Gavin, Graham, Alan, Ron, Mei, Dylan, Ryan, and multiple related family members in England and Australia. All of whom Sylvie loved fondly, treasured deeply and hopefully touched with her kindness and adoration.

Please join us celebrating Sylvie’s life on the morning of Friday, September 13, 2019, at 10:00 a.m. at the Haven of Rest Funeral Home, Crematory and Memorial Park located at 8053 State Route 16, Gig Harbor, WA 98332. A small reception will follow from 11:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. at the home of Sylvie and Geoffrey, located at 2705 88th Street Court NW, Gig Harbor, WA 98332. There will be a short private family inurnment at 3:30 p.m. the same day. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to any Cancer Charity of your choice in Sylvie’s memory.

A Celebration of Life for Sylvia Ann Jackson will be held at, 10:00 AM on September 13, 2019. The celebration will be at;

The Chapel at Haven of Rest

8503 State Route 16 NW, Gig Harbor, Washington

The Memorial service program is as follows:

Prelude – Fountain of Diana – Played by Emily Jackson                                       GILLOCK

 Introduction – Andrew Jackson

 After the Introduction, all stand.

 Invocation

 Lord, we acknowledge your presence here and come before you this morning as friends and family of Sylvia Jackson. We are here because we love her and miss her, and together we want to cherish our memories of her. We honor her life and honor her, while supporting one another as we grieve her passing.

Help us to find comfort in these moments now, and in the weeks and months ahead, please bring us peace and mercy as we remember, and share fondly, all that Sylvia was to us.
People               Amen.

Remain standing.

 Opening Hymn
Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah – Played by Emily Jackson                                HUGHES

 Remain standing

 Celebrant           The Lord be with you.

People               And also with you.

Celebrant           Let us pray

 Collect

 O God, accept our prayers on behalf of your servant Sylvia, and grant her an entrance into the land of light and joy.

 People               Amen.

 All sit.

 First Reading – Read by Christopher Jackson                                 Ecclesiastes 3:1-13                                                                                                                     Reader               A Reading from Ecclesiastes.

 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die;

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

a time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to break down, and a time to build up;

a time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

a time to seek, and a time to lose;

a time to keep, and a time to throw away;

a time to tear, and a time to sew;

a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

a time to love, and a time to hate;

a time for war, and a time for peace.

 People               Amen.

 Remain seated.

 Psalm 23 – Read by Natalie Jackson                                                                            

 The Lord is my shepherd; 

      I shall not want.

He makes me to lie down in green pastures; *

      he leads me beside the still waters.

He restores my soul; 

      he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his

                  Name’s sake.

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil

      for you are with me;

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days

                  of my life, 

      and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

 Remain seated.

 Second Reading – Read by Chase Smith                                           1 Corinthians 13:1-8

 Reader               A Reading from First Corinthians.                                          

 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love Never fails

 People               Amen.

 Interlude - Nocturne in B flat minor – Played by Emily Jackson             CHOPIN

 Words of Remembrance – Gary Jackson

 Dancing in the Sky – Sung by Lauren Jackson

 Old American Native Prayer – Read by Peyton Smith

 I give you this one thought to keep,
I’m with you still.  I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush,
Of quiet birds in circled flight
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not think of me as gone
I am with you still, in each new dawn.
Do not stand there at my grave and cry
I am not there, I did not die.

 A Letter to Nana – Written and read by Emily Jackson

 Eulogy – Geoffrey Jackson

 After the Eulogy, all stand.

 People and Celebrant

 Our Father in heaven,

      hallowed be your Name,

      your kingdom come,

      your will be done,

            on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

      as we forgive those

            who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial,

      and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power,

      and the glory are yours,

      now and forever.

 People               Amen.

 All sit.

 Somewhere Over the Rainbow                                   ISRAEL KAMAKAWIWO'OLE

 A Eulogy to a Nana – Read by Peyton Smith                                        ANONYMOUS

 I’m sure everyone here has memories much like mine. They are good memories, something we’ll always have to cherish. It isn’t often in our lives that we come across someone so special that her presence stays with you forever. Nana was that kind of person. The kind of love Nana felt for us was a love without condition. She may not have approved of everything we did, may not have liked some of the decisions we made, but she didn’t lecture, she didn’t judge. She just kept loving us, letting us know that she was there and if we ever needed her, we could count on her to listen, to comfort, to help.

 It didn’t take much to make her happy—a phone call, a card, a visit or a kiss before saying good night. We were the most important people in the world to her. She lived to make our lives better and was proud of us. To think that someone like her felt that way about us should make us all feel more than just a little good. We can never forget that there is a part of her in each of us, something that she gave to us and asked nothing for in return.

 What we inherited from her cannot be damaged, destroyed or lost. It is permanent, and it keeps her from becoming just a wonderful memory. It allows her in so many ways to remain just as alive as always - alive through us. There have been and will be times in our lives when situations arise where we’ll want so much to talk to her, be with her or ask her just what we should do. I hope that, when those times come, we can begin to look to each other and find that part of her that she gave to each of us.

 Maybe we can learn to lean on each other and rely on each other the way we always knew that we could with her. Maybe then she won’t seem quite so far away. So, for your wisdom, your humor, tenderness and compassion, your understanding, your patience and your love; thank you, Nana. Thank you so much. We love you.

Closing Prayer

 Lord, we thank you so much for the life of Sylvia.  Today we celebrate all that she has given us and the legacy of her life. Thank you for what a good mother, wife, sister and friend she has been. We remember how she always supported us through the difficult seasons and rejoiced with us in the good times. We think about what a kind neighbor she has been, and her love for community life.

 May her acts of service, her kindness, her decency and her love be a lasting light to us all. We will always deeply treasure her in our hearts and give thanks for everything she given us.

 People               Amen.

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