Gretchen Neal Jackson

Gretchen Neal Jackson, 78, of Ann Arbor, MI, passed away on Oct. 25, 2022 at Glacier Hills Senior Community after a life rich with friends and activities. She was born Jan. 20, 1944 in New Orleans, LA to Robert Frazer Neal and Hazel Atkinson Neal who predeceased her. She attended elementary school in Dallas, TX where her family moved after WWII. Her family moved to New Canaan, CT when Gretchen was a high school sophomore. There she met John E. Jackson, who became her life partner. She attended Ohio Wesleyan University majoring in keyboard performance and music education, graduating in June, 1965. Gretchen and John married on Aug. 14, 1965 and moved to Cambridge, MA where she taught elementary school music in the Malden, MA public schools and then worked as a secretary at the Harvard Health Services. Their first child, Michael, was born in 1968. They moved to Belmont, MA. in 1970, where their daughter Carrie was born in 1974. With several other young mothers from the Belmont Unitarian Church she helped found the Belmont Cooperative Nursery School, which still exists, and was its first president. In 1977 they moved to Swarthmore, PA where she conducted and accompanied the choir at the Media, PA Unitarian-Universalist church. Then in 1980 they moved to Ann Arbor, MI. She returned to full time work at the University of Michigan as a secretary, first in the Economics Dept. and then in the Humanities Dept. in the College of Engineering. There Profs. Dwight Stevenson and J. C. Mathes gave her wonderful opportunities to develop and expand her skills in new directions and encouraged her to pursue more demanding positions.

These new directions led to a 15-year career in university development, initially working with Frank Wilhelme at the School of Business. One of her reference letters said, "This woman thrives on chaos," to which Frank responded, "Hire her, we have chaos." And thrive she did. With wonderful mentoring from Frank, Roy Muir, Jerry May, Jon Cosovich, Kathy Okun and others she had a succession of increasingly responsible jobs with the central development office including as director of the Offices of Donor Relations and Events, and Annual Giving where she oversaw the arrangement of major events for donors and the graduation visit of then Pres. George H. W. Bush in 1991. In 1994 Paul Boylan hired her as Director of Development at the now School of Music, Theater and Dance. This, she said, was her dream job. When Dean Boylan retired in 2000, Gretchen did too, saying that five years was long enough, that a new dean needed new ideas and that she was never going to have a better job. She relented when Jerry May, Vice-President for Development, offered her a series of temporary positions organizing special projects, such as campaign kick-offs and closures. People still comment on seeing the maize windbreakers she arranged to distribute at the close of one of these events being worn in cities around the world.

In 2000 she started a new career as an artistic quilter. After first being awed by the artistry and craft she discovered at various workshops and displays, Gretchen ventured into this new world with the same enthusiasm, energy and creativity she had in previous endeavors. With encouragement and mentoring from quilters in local organizations, such as the Fiber Arts Guild and Paradigm, her quilts were selected as part of a display that traveled to libraries around Michigan, were included in national quilt magazines, and won ribbons at national shows.

Gretchen also volunteered regularly for local organizations. She knit well over a thousand hats, which were distributed to charitable organizations in Washtenaw County by the Glacier Hills chaplain and around the country by KnitWits at the University of Michigan. She organized and led church junior choirs and was a part-time office manager for the Unitarian-Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor. There she revitalized and ran the Congregation's Partner Church program with a Unitarian church in Transylvania, Romania, whose minister praised her, "incredible energy, heart, and love." Amid all her professional and volunteer activities she found time, and companions, to visit six continents and for over 25 years to spend a month in Poland twice a year. She was celebrated for the amount of pottery and crafts she had John haul home each trip, stocking many friends' kitchens and shelves.

She is survived by her husband of 57 years, John E. Jackson; son, J. Michael Neal of Minneapolis, MN; daughter, Carrie Neal Jackson of State College, PA; and a sister Margie Neal McCabe of E. Derry, NH. Cremation has already taken place and a memorial service will be held at a later date. Gretchen's family wants to thank the staffs in the Glacier Hills Care and Rehab Center and at Arbor Hospice for the wonderful and sensitive care they provided. In lieu of flowers we ask that contributions in Gretchen's name be made to the Gretchen Neal Jackson Scholarship Fund at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater and Dance (https://donate.umich.edu/Yzr4v).