Betty Jean Jackson

"BELCHERTOWN-- Betty Jean (O'Brien) Jackson, 90, died December 14, 2010. Born in Decatur, Georgia, January 2, 1920, elder daughter of the late Raymond Hicks and Mabel Delle (Jones) O'Brien. Betty Jean moved to Belchertown in 1959 with her husband, Charles (Lt. Col., USAF). They lived on Bay Road there, then settled at their beloved Meads Corner Farm. She was a proud graduate of Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia, and earned an advanced degree in library science at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, to which she transferred after an initial year at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Her career as an academic librarian took her from the Georgia Institute of Technology to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, then (World War II) to Germany as an Army Air Force librarian with the American Red Cross, working with the occupation forces at Wiesbaden and Mannheim. Betty Jean met her husband in Wiesbaden; they were married in 1949. During Charles's active military career, she was a proud and supportive Air Force wife, and mother to three daughters. After settling in Massachusetts, Betty Jean resumed her academic career at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, then finally at Mount Holyoke College's Williston Memorial Library, from which she retired as Assistant Librarian/Head of Cataloguing. Beyond her enthusiasm for her profession, Betty Jean had a passion for raising and showing Morgan horses, her cocker spaniels, The New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle, detective fiction, tending to her roses, a very dry martini, and good conversation. She was predeceased by her husband of 60 years, Charles, in 2009, as well as by her parents, her sister, Helen O'Brien Green, and her brother-in-law, W. Manning Green, and her brother-in-law George S. Jackson. Betty Jean was one of a kind and is missed by her family and friends. She is survived by her daughters Anne Worrell Jackson and husband Louis Scrima, of Roslindale, Massachusetts; Grace Davies Scott and husband Jonathan, of Pipersville, Pennsylvania; and Elizabeth Jackson Seaver, of Belchertown; by her nieces Patsy Green, Betsy Ann Molaison, and Nancy Jeansonne, of Metairie and Lacombe, Louisiana; by her granddaughters Rachael Cook and husband Corey, Erika Elizabeth Scott, and Ariel Joan Scott; Maeve Jackson-Scrima and Gioia Jackson-Scrima; and Catherine Grace Seaver; and a great-granddaughter. A memorial service and celebration of Betty Jean's life was held on January 8, 2011, 11:00 AM, at the United Church of Christ, Pelham; Amherst Rd., Pelham. Calling hours at Beers & Story Funeral Home, 10 Maple St., Belchertown, will be Thursday May 5, 2011 from 4:00-7:00 p.m. with a private graveside to follow at South Cemetery. For those who wish to do so, donations in her memory may be made to The Clapp Memorial Library, Belchertown, or to the Belchertown Senior Center."