Obituary
JACKSON, Francis L. (Lin) and Marion O. (neé Thistle) — died one day apart, both 93, on Tuesday, April 19 and Wednesday, April 20, 2022. They were a unique match. Marion, a merchant’s daughter who grew up in Burlington on the Baie Verte Peninsula, lived the life of an outport princess among four brothers. Her father, Fred Thistle, and mother Nellie Yates took the family lumber business there from King’s Point in 1935, cutting wood for export and running a store on the waterfront. The family remained a major economic force in Burlington for 30 years. Marion herself had a colourful childhood, one she said she could write a book about from memory. A favourite anecdote was being sent by dogsled to Grand Falls suffering from appendicitis. It turned out to be a false alarm, but she had to remain there until spring. After high school, she taught school herself — no need for a teaching licence then — and eventually found her lifelong calling in nursing.
Lin was a minister’s son, the youngest child of Rev. Oliver and Rosalie Jackson. Oliver was a young Welsh missionary who arrived on Newfoundland’s shores in 1911 and went on to become superintendent of missions for the United Church. Born on Bell Island, Lin grew up in St. John’s but was not fond of life in a cleric’s household. After his father drowned on a mission along the south coast in 1937, he spent most of his summers staying with various aunts in Conception Bay North. It was here he developed a love of country living, in all its natural beauty and bounty. When war came in 1939, his duties included putting up nightly air raid shutters and looking after anti-incendiary sand buckets and stirrup pumps stationed at their house. In September 1942, he and a friend in Topsail witnessed the sinking of two ore ships by a German U-boat off Bell Island.
When Lin and Marion met in December 1953, it’s safe to say it was love at first sight — at least for him. It was a blind date set up by mutual friends in Gander, where Lin had spent his early 20s working at the weather office, playing in a band and socializing with pals. Lin was immediately smitten, but she was more aloof. After two years of dating on and off, Marion’s parents convinced her that hitching up with the esteemed Rev. Oliver’s son would be a smart move. They were married in 1955, with a reception held at the Colony Club in St. John’s. They moved to a modest basement apartment in Halifax, where Lin studied psychology and Marion nursed at Halifax Civic Hospital. After finishing his degree, Lin became disillusioned with his chosen field and instead fell in love with the writings of German philosopher G.W.F. Hegel. After more studies and frugal living, they ended up back in St. John’s in 1965, Lin becoming an associate professor of Memorial University’s philosophy department and Marion nursing at the Waterford Hospital. She went on instruct nursing assistants while he served as head of the department throughout the 1970s.
They had moved back into the Jackson family home, but Lin’s penchant for Sunday drives belied a deep yearning to recapture the rural experiences of his youth. In 1972, they bought a summer house in St. Mary’s Bay where Lin could grow flowers and vegetables when he wasn’t poring over books and papers. Over the next 30 years, they raised a ragtag crop of kids and hosted elegant dinner parties with family, faculty and friends. Lin took up the cause of Newfoundland’s place in Confederation during the 1980s constitutional debates. Marion was the consummate socialite, frequently visiting her beloved brother Howard in New York, where she was showered with gifts and adoration. In the 1990s, they spent some winter months in Mexico where Lin’s brother Ivor had made a second home for himself. A few years after both retired, they moved to Portugal Cove to live with their youngest son and his wife across from Neary’s Pond. True to form, Lin helped transform the property into a wonderland of flowers and vegetable gardens.
They were married for 67 years, and could only bear one day apart. Lin is predeceased by brothers Rupert and Ivor, and sister Georgie. Marion is predeceased by brothers Sid, Mun, Roy and Howard, as well as sister Pauline, who died in infancy. They are fondly remembered by sons Stephen (Lorraine) and Peter (Sheila Ryan), daughters Andrea (Jason Morgan) and Susan; grandchildren Nicholas, Bastian and Gabriel; several beloved nieces on both sides, and other family members and friends. Thanks to the staff of Tiffany Village and St. Luke’s Homes for helping them in their final years.
Visitation will be held on Wednesday April 27th,2022 from 2:00pm-4:00pm and 7:00pm-9:00pm at Barrett’s Funeral Home, 328 Hamilton Avenue, St. John’s. Funeral service will be held on Thursday April 29th, 2022 at 11:00am from St. Thomas’ Anglican Church, Military Road, St. John’s. Interment to follow at the General Protestant Cemetery. The service will be live-streamed for those who cannot attend in person and a link will be available on Barrett’s Website. To leave a message of condolence for the family please visit www.barretts.ca
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Francis and Marion Jackson 2022..
Death notice for the town of: St-John’s, Province: T-N