Obituary of Blanche Lucille Jackson

IN MEMORY OF BLANCHE JACKSON

1935 ---2017

Blanche’s amazing journey of life began in 1935 in Memphis, Tennessee.  She was the first child of Lillian Cobb and Richard Hudson.  At the age of 10, she moved to Cleveland, Ohio where she had the great fortune of moving next door to 12 year old Paul Jackson.   The two of them became the best of friends and started dating when Blanche was 18.  They married two years later and after obtaining their  Bachelor’s degrees, they moved to Los Angeles, California.  Blanche continued her education in California and upon receiving her teaching credential, she began teaching at Century Park Elementary School.  

Blanche was an excellent mother.   She and her husband shared a commitment to raising and supporting their four children.  She encouraged them to set high goals and instilled in each of them a strong work ethic and was proud of all that they accomplished.

Blanche was also an excellent teacher and motivator so her students were always high achievers.   This lead to speculations that the best students had been assigned to her classroom rather than recognizing her ability to motivate and create a thirst for learning and knowledge in her students.  This gift for teaching and her kind nature opened additional doors.  Her Principal took note of her talents, dedication and rapport with her students, so she brought to Blanche’s attention a program at USC focused on bringing Black Psychologists to the schools.  Coincidentally, a person on the selection committee for the program was the mother of a custodian at Blanche’s school.   She was aware of the advice given to her son by Blanche which was for him to go back to school and continue his education – advice which her son followed.  Blanche was accepted into the program and received her Master’s Degree in Educational Psychology.   She then began her new career as a School Pyschologist for Los Angeles Unified School District where she worked until her retirement in the early 90’s.

Blanche and Paul decided it was time for a change of scenery so they packed up and moved to Las Vegas, Nevada.  Blanche loved working with children so she soon went back to work as a School Psychologist for the Clark County, Nevada School District.  After approximately 5 additional years of work, she retired once again.  

Blanche was very talented and loved to sing so she was delighted that her membership in the Los Angeles Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. also provided her an opportunity to perform with the Delta Choraliers.    When she moved to Las Vegas, she immediately joined the Las Vegas Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and since they did not have a choir, she worked in various leadership roles and participated in other community service projects. She continued with her singing by joining several choirs in the Las Vegas area.

Last year on July 16th, 2016, Blanche was diagnosed with a Brain Tumor.   After undergoing surgery, and many follow-up treatments, she beat the odds and survived long past the original life expectancy prognosis after post-surgery discovery of brain cancer.  Just a few weeks short of one year later, on the afternoon of Jun 28th, 2017, Blanche lost her battle and transitioned but not before having just responded to her husband’s kiss.  Her husband realized that the kiss was her telling him goodbye.

Blanche leaves behind a loving husband Paul Jackson Sr., daughter Karen Evans and son-in-law Geo Evans, daughter Michelle Barrett and son-in-law Patrick Barrett, son Paul Jackson Jr., grandchildren Lindsey Jackson and Paul Jackson III, and daughter-in-law Michaela Jackson, son Mathew Jackson and grandchildren Ryan, Brandon, and Brian Jackson, Uncle and Aunt Charles and Delores Huddleston and many other relatives and close friends who loved her and will forever cherish her memory.