Janette “Jan” Dunham Jackson was born in Bangor, Maine, and grew up on her grandparents’ (Ruth and Henry Dunham) farm in Charleston, Maine. She graduated from Higgins Classical Institute in 1953. On August 31, 1954—during Hurricane Carol—she married Thomas Brown.

She is survived by her son, David Brown; her daughter, Dianne Brown Maranto; her grandson Benjamin Brown and his wife Cath, and their daughter Judith; her granddaughters Molly and Susan Maranto; her brothers Norman and Ed Patterson; and her sisters Eleanor Kidwell and Marie Gass. She was preceded in death by her mother, Madeline Dunham Patterson; her son, Douglas Brown; and her husband, Bill Jackson.

Jan managed a secretarial service in Hawaii while raising her three children. In 1966 the family moved to Maryland, where she worked as a property manager until 1979, when she married Bill Jackson. Together they lived in Virginia, North Carolina, Kansas, Texas, and Florida. Jan later worked part-time as a church secretary in Florida and volunteered as an arts and crafts director at a nursing home in Virginia.

More importantly, Jan will be remembered for who she was. She was creative, generous, thoughtful, funny, witty, and hardworking—a prolific crafter who made deep connections with everyone she met. If you knew her in the 1980s or 1990s, you may still have a ceramic pot, vase, or Santa she made. She was kind, gentle, and carried herself with grace and dignity throughout her life.

Jan loved animals and always had a cat or two. She never missed an opportunity to meet a new one, whether it was a koala, camel, zebra, or giraffe.

In lieu of flowers, Jan would be honored if donations were made to the SPCA or the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

She will be remembered for the kindness she shared, the beauty she created, and the quiet grace with which she lived her life.