1938 – 2010

OXFORD — Rosa B. Jackson left us to be with her Lord on Aug. 3. After many years of suffering with Alzheimer’s, she passed due to complications from the disease.

She was born on Nov. 7, 1938, in Ponce, Puerto Rico, and grew up there. She held a teaching degree from the University of Ponce. She was an elementary English teacher for one year in Ponce before taking a job with the Nestle Company in San Juan, Puerto Rico. There she served in their Merchandising and Advertising division.

She never left the island until she met Roger A. Jackson, her husband of nearly 50 years. They met in 1962 at Fort Allen Army Base, where Roger was stationed with a military police unit. They married on Oct. 12, 1962, and began their long life together full of love and laughter.

She accompanied Roger during his 22-year military career, never leaving his side except during his deployment during the Vietnam Conflict. While stationed in Tacoma, Wash., their oldest daughter, Veronica, was born in 1963 followed by their only son, Alan, in 1964. Several years later while stationed in Augusta, Ga., their youngest daughter, Kathleen, was born in 1970. From Georgia they traveled to Germany where they spent a few years stationed at Wertheim before finally returning to Maine in 1974.

Through those years, Rosa was an active member in the NCO Wives Club, won many trophies in their bowling league, played on the army base softball teams, and worked various jobs on base, all while managing her family and moving from base to base.

After moving back to Maine, she took a job with Cornwall Wood Products until allergies forced her to seek other employment. She took a job as a checkout clerk with Smith’s Shop ?n’ Save, now known as Hannaford. There she always had a welcoming smile for every customer and her co-workers. From there she went to work for Maine Savings Bank as a teller and continued to greet customers and co-workers with her beautiful smile and cheery personality until retiring from Androscoggin Savings Bank in 1995. She looked forward to spending time in her gardens and winters at her home in Puerto Rico.

She served and held positions as secretary, vice president and president in the Maine Rural Letter Carriers Auxiliary Association. She spent many years performing her duties in the Association and at one time served as Roger’s counterpart in the Auxiliary while he served as president of the MRLCA for Maine. The association once again gave them the chance to travel to many new places in the United States, making many new friends and creating wonderful new memories of their continued adventures together.

She was a member of St. Catherine’s of Sienna Catholic Church of Norway, the Lake Thompson Fish and Game Club and enjoyed camping, fishing and hunting over the years. She was also a member of the Oxford Fair Association, the Oxford Cemetery Association and a member of the Boosters Club while her children were students at Oxford Hills, rarely missing any of their sporting events. She was a constant source of love and encouragement for her children, not only then but throughout their lives and extended that same love and encouragement to her granchildren in everything they did.

Rosa will be greatly missed by all who had the opportunity to know her and love her.

She is survived by her loving husband, Roger Jackson of East Oxford; her daughter Veronica McLellan and grandsons Thomas and Tyler McLellan, all of Cumming, Ga.; her son Alan Jackson and his partner, James Archambault, of Peru, N.Y.; her granddaughters Amanda Brannen and her husband, Joshua, of West Chazy, N.Y., and Tara Jackson of Peru, N.Y.; her daughter Kathleen Rhoten and her husband, Michael, of East Oxford; and her granddaughter Mikeckney Ward of East Oxford.

She is also survived by her adopted sister, Ana J. Negron and her family of Ponce, Puerto Rico; her siblings-in-law Arthur and Ann Bellwood of Oxford, A. Rust Jackson of Paris, Philip and Dianne Jackson of Harrison, Robert and Sue Plummer of East Oxford, Henry and Maureen Jackson of East Oxford, and Caldwell and Diane Jackson of East Oxford; as well as an extensive family of cousins in Puerto Rico and many loving nieces and nephews and their families here in Maine and also living elsewhere.

She was predeceased by her father, Gabriel Archangel Bariny, and her mother, Tomasa Roubert Guzman Bariny.

Online condolences may be expressed to the family at www.oxfordhillsfuneralservices.com.