Obituary of Ellen Jackson

WEST COLUMBIA:Ellen "Colleen" (Stancil) Jackson died December 6, 2012, after 15 years of declining health. She was born on December 1, 1927, in Toccoa, GA to Lucy Mae (Hembree) and A.L. "Lam" Stancil. She was the fifth of twelve children and lived on the family farm outside Westminster, SC. After graduating from Cleveland High School, she moved to Greenville where she worked as a Bell Telephone Operator. She met her future husband, H.J. "Jack" Jackson at a dance at the YWCA: he was an airman assigned to Donaldson AFB in Greenville. They married on October 10, 1947 and celebrated 50 years of marriage prior to his death in 1998. She was a homemaker most of her life and followed her husband during his 20 year military career in the USAF to assignments in Germany, California, Nebraska and South Carolina. After his retirement from the Air Force, they made West Columbia their home. Mrs. Jackson was a past Worthy Matron of the New Brooklyn Chapter of the Eastern Star of Sinclair Masonic Lodge; she was also active in the Order of the Amaranth and Rainbow Girl activities and was awarded the Grand Cross of Color in recognition of her many years of dedicated service. She was an active member of Northside Baptist Church for over 40 years where she taught Sunday school for many years as well as supported other church activities. Mrs. Jackson was an avid volunteer with such programs as Meals on Wheels and God's Helping Hands. Mrs. Jackson is survived by four of her five children; her youngest child, Harold Jackson, preceded her in death in 1998. Her four surviving children are: Linda (Jackson) Stierle (husband Dennis) of Fulton, MD; Jerry A. Jackson (wife Katherine) of Columbia; Joe Jackson; and Barbara (Jackson) Pontiere (husband Dennis) of Pawleys Island and Buffalo, NY. Also surviving are her four grandchildren; Lisa (Jackson) Bratton (Danny) of Sumter, Jerry "J.J." Jackson, Jr. (Sylvia) of Walhalla, Dominick Pontiere of Pawleys Island and Ashley Pontiere of Charlotte, NC; six great grandchildren, Daniel and Haile Bratton of Sumter, Triston Hall of Sumter, and Dakota, Copper Rose, and William Jackson of Walhalla; also numerous nieces and nephews all across the country as well as two surviving siblings; Martha (Stancil) DeBoer of Cape Cod, MA and Jack Stancil of Los Angeles, CA. Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Monday, December 10, 2012, in the Chapel of Thompson Funeral Home of West Columbia, officiated by Reverend Steve Allen. Interment will follow at Woodridge Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends from 11-12 p.m. prior to the service at the funeral home. Memorials may be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, P.O. Box 50, Memphis, TN 38101 or to Northside Baptist Church, 4347 Sunset Blvd., Lexington, SC 29073.