Maxine Jackson, 89
Maxine Jackson “loved life,” her daughter Jill Jackson wrote. “She had great passion and warmth and loved her home, decorating, cooking, gardening, fashion, sewing, knitting, travel, music, and friends. But more than anything she loved her family, especially her children and grandchildren.”
Mrs. Jackson, a resident of Springs-Fireplace Road in East Hampton for nearly six decades, died on Sept. 25, surrounded by family. She was 89.
She is survived by six children: Tali Jackson of Montauk, Mark Jackson of Chicago, Jill Jackson of East Hampton, Jan Jackson of California, Joi Jackson Perle of Wainscott, and Kip Jackson of New Hampshire. Five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren also survive, as does a brother, Bernard Olff of upstate New York.
Posting on Facebook after her passing, one of her grandchildren described her as “my wonderful star of a grandmother.”
“She was kind, creative, stylish, cute, generous, and fun. A true original,” Jill Jackson wrote. “Her home had a humongous collection of angel figurines and was such a magical place to be. She will be truly, deeply missed by the many people who adored her. I can only hope to live with as much joy and heart as she did.”
Mrs. Jackson was born Maxine Wanda Olff on July 27, 1929, in Brooklyn, the eighth child of Albertus Christiaan Olff, a merchant mariner from Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana (now Suriname), and the former Amabel Estelle Kennedy of Brooklyn. She grew up in Brooklyn until her early teens, when the family moved to Cambridge, a small town upstate where she graduated from high school. In her 70s, she went back to school, and graduated from Suffolk County Community College with a degree in business.
Although she loved the country, upon graduation she moved back to the city, where she met Jack Jackson while both were employed at a doughnut-making factory. They moved to their house on Springs-Fireplace Road in East Hampton in 1961, and Mrs. Jackson lived there until her death. The couple separated in 1970; Mr. Jackson died in 2013.
Mrs. Jackson worked in a number of local stores over the years, including A Little of What You Fancy, David’s Cookies, Dandelion, the Party Store, Provisions, and Mark, Fore & Strike, as well as at the original A&P grocery store on Main Street. She was also an election poll worker.
A private service will be held early next year.
The family has suggested contributions in her memory to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (Maxine Jackson Memorial Fund), 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, Tenn. 38105, or stjude.org.