Clara Marie Petersen Jackson Obituary (1918 - 2008)

Our beloved Clara Marie (Petersen) Jackson, age 90, passed away peacefully on the beautiful, snowy afternoon of January 25, 2008, at Mountain Air Care Center in Payson, Utah. For the past 10 years Clara fought with dignity through a series of strokes and medical challenges. But now, after waiting for 25 years, she joyfully reunites with her late husband Samuel S. Jackson who passed away in February 1983. Clara was born in Honeyville, Utah, on January 7, 1918, the daughter of Lythia Merriam Jones and Leo Gilbert Petersen. After her father died during the 1918 flu epidemic, her mother met and married Enos Street, who raised, loved, and adored Clara as his own. Clara attended Granite High School and Utah State University. She married one of the local South Salt Lake boys, Samuel Shirley Jackson on June 30, 1935. They always celebrated the anniversary of their first date, on Valentine’s Day. Clara has lived in Salt Lake City, Murray, and the last 8 years with her family in Spanish Fork. She was active in the LDS Church where she served in many capacities working with the youth. She enjoyed serving as Roosevelt School PTA president while her children attended elementary school and was a proud 50 year member of the Beta Sigma Phi Sorority. She loved the outdoors: hunting, fishing, camping, river running, and gardening. She celebrated her 50th birthday by back-packing a grueling 50 miles in the Uintah mountains. She also taught hunters’ safety and first aid/survival courses. She was a world-wide traveler, a voracious reader and had a deep love of classical music. She especially loved her family, supporting grandchildren on missions, and encouraging them to reach for and achieve worthy goals. Clara is preceded in death by her sister Sarah, grandson Michael Whittaker, and great-granddaughter Emilee Sainsbury. She is survived by brothers, John Street (Boise, ID) and Dale Street (Centerville, UT), and her children Karron Shirlene Whittaker (Spanish Fork, UT) and Samuel Wallace Jackson (Pomona, CA). She has 9 grandchildren, 37 great-grandchildren, and 10 great-great-grandchildren. Friends and family are invited to a viewing Tuesday from 6-8 p.m. at Jenkins-Soffe Mortuary, 4760 South State Street, Murray, Utah, or on Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. at Canyon Ward LDS Chapel in Spanish Fork 3477 E. River Bottoms Rd. Memorial services will follow immediately at 11 am. Interment will be at Elysian Gardens Cemetery in Salt Lake City. Thanks to Mountain Air Care Center in Payson for their loving care and A+ Hospice for making Clara’s final days comfortable. Thanks also to all who have extended their love and kindness to our family.