Joan Benkard Jackson was born on September 15th, 1933 in New York City. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Bartlett Benkard And the sister of James W.B. Benkard and was raised in New York City. She was a graduate of the Chapin School, Oldfields School, and Adelphi University.  She is survived by her five children: Henry, Laura, Vivian, Peter, and Jeannie and leaves behind six grandchildren, Melissa, Sam, Sarah, William, Samantha and Daniel. 

Joan met her husband at photography school. In this class, her teacher played matchmaker, suggesting that Joan and Peter would be “good together”. The two fell in love quickly and married.

Joan and Peter lived the military life on Air Force bases around the country while raising their children.  While living and working in Hawaii, the Jackson family learned that Peter was exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam. He soon passed away and Joan was left to raise five children independently. She moved back to New York where she acted as a homemaker and mother, teaching and taking care of her children. She received support from the military and was able to ensure all five children went to college. Her proudest accomplishment is producing 5 happy and successful children that she was able to teach and support.

Joan continued to serve as a teacher, as she enjoyed helping people at the Hebrew Home where she lived. In her spare time, she enjoyed attending various programs, exercising, keeping up with the news, and spending time with her grandchildren. She served on the Hebrew Home welcoming committee and her goal was to share the message that “life doesn't have to stop just because you are in a nursing home”. She firmly believed that there was an opportunity to make a new life for yourself while living there.

Joan loved family and loved traditions. She loved the holidays and would begin planning them months ahead of time. Every holiday involved a carefully constructed menu of time-honored family favorites, there was little deviation from the traditional menu, yet every year it was more special than the last. Joan also had a passion for history and genealogy. Joan could trace back her families’ lineage to the time of Napoleon Bonaparte, and did much of her research prior to the availability of the internet. She could also tell you interesting anecdotes and stories about her ancestors from artifacts like handwritten letters that she transcribed and eventually shared with the world on her self-made website. Joan would share these stories with her children and grandchildren during the holidays, it was another way she instilled a sense of tradition in her family.

Her passing is untimely, but she will live on in all of our memories and in the traditions that her family will continue to uphold for years to come.

Reposing on Sunday (2/21) from 1 – 4 pm at the Riverdale-on-Hudson Funeral Home. Committal private. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Hebrew Home HOPE program www.hhardonation.org, are  greatly appreciated. (note: to donate to HOPE you need to select other and then indicate HOPE)