Eunice Motte Jackson
August 11, 1926 - May 3, 2021
Eunice Motte Jackson was born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, the tenth of thirteen children of Charles Laurence Motte and Elizabeth (Bessie) Dyels Motte. She, her twin sister Bernice and their siblings were raised on a berry farm. After graduating from high school, she worked local jobs before moving to St. Louis, Missouri. There she met Dr. J.B. Jackson, Jr, a surgical resident who was finishing his training before being shipped out to South Korea. They were married on June 18, 1951, shortly before he was deployed. When Jack returned from the war, the young family settled in Berkeley.
In the sixties, with her three children in school, Eunice began her career in community service and volunteerism that continued for over fifty years. She was an engaged leader in numerous organizations, including the School of the Madeline Mother’s Club, St. Mary’s High School Parents Association and Board of Trustees, the Bay Area Urban League and Bay Area Urban League Guild and the San Francisco Chapter of the Links, Inc. She founded and ran Project Friend, a weekly program in Berkeley for disabled young adults, for twenty-one years. She received numerous awards, including the San Francisco Foundation Award for outstanding contributions in human relations and Bay Area Catholic Charities Woman of the Year.
Eunice was an avid traveler and sports fans. She and Jack traveled the world with friends and family until his death in 2003. She enjoyed football and was an Oakland Raiders season ticket holder and regular attendee from 1963 until 2011.
Eunice walked the hills of Berkeley regularly, played bridge with friends and continued traveling to Europe and throughout the United States into her nineties.
Eunice was notably elegant and graceful in all situations throughout her life. She stayed active to her final day, enjoying visits and walks with family. She never owned a cane.
She is survived by her sister, Sister Mary Brenda of Baltimore, Maryland, daughter, Brenda Drake (Michael), and sons, Kenneth Jackson (Debbie Lee) and Harold Jackson (Laura), six grandchildren and fourteen great-grandchildren.