May 16, 2011

Katherine Elizabeth Brinkley Jackson, age 82, died peacefully at Melech Hospice House in Tampa, Fla. (near daughter, Kay, & husband, Tim Reinhold) on May 16, 2011, after an extended illness with Parkinson’s.

Born Feb. 10, 1929 in Norfolk, Va., Kitty Jackson grew up in Norfolk and attended Squires Memorial Presbyterian Church in the Ingleside community. In addition to singing in the church choir and being a soloist, she was an honorary member of the International Order of Job’s Daughters and named Queen in 1947. During high school, she also served as a “spotter” for enemy planes near the Norfolk Naval Base during World War II. A year after finishing high school, Kitty attended King College in Bristol, Tenn., for two years, until her marriage to James E. Jackson Jr. (of Hopewell, Va.), who graduated from King College and entered Columbia Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Atlanta in 1951. For the next 25 years, she worked tirelessly as a minister’s wife, choir and music director, Sunday School and Bible School teacher. She began work as a ward/unit secretary at Wytheville, Va. Community Hospital in 1972 until her retirement from Memorial Mission Hospital in Asheville, N.C. in 1999.

Kitty lived in the Montreat/Black Mountain area of North Carolina for 18 years and was active in the Black Mountain Presbyterian Church as a choir member. She also served as bookkeeper and volunteer at Swannanoa Valley Christian Ministry in Black Mountain. A life-long knitter, Kitty knitted countless Afghans, sweaters, baby caps and blankets for personal gifts and donations.

Kitty was predeceased by her parents, Roy E. Brinkley Sr. and Katherine Felton Brinkley, of Norfolk, and her brother, Roy E. Brinkley Jr. of N. Augusta, S.C. She is survived by her daughter, Kay Jackson Reinhold and husband, Tim, of Tampa, Fla.; grandchildren, Kristin Reinhold (of Decatur, Ga.) and Brad Reinhold and wife, Debra (of Tucson, Ariz.); and daughter, Maryann Jackson Overstreet, and husband, Mick, of Bedford, Va. She is also survived by numerous relatives and friends in Virginia and North Carolina.

A memorial service for Katherine “Kitty” Brinkley Jackson will be held Saturday, June 18, 2011, at 1 p.m., at Suffolk Christian Church, 216 N. Main St., Suffolk, by the Rev. Michael D. Halley. Burial of her ashes will be in Forest Lawn Cemetery, 8100 Granby St., in Norfolk, at 4 p.m., at the graves of her parents, Katherine and Roy E. Brinkley Sr. You may contact Rev. Michael D. Halley at Suffolk Christian Church, 757-539-9182, for further information.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts can be made to either: “A Path to Healing and a Bridge to Wellness,” the Oncology Wellness Program (non-profit), c/o Bedford Area Family YMCA, P.O. Box 1026, Bedford, VA 24523, with the notation “Katherine B. Jackson Memorial gift,” or Swannanoa Valley Christian Ministry, P.O. Box 235, Black Mountain, NC 28711, with the notation ”Katherine B. Jackson Memorial gift.” Words of comfort may be expressed at www.blountcurry.com.