Obituary of James Noel Jackson

J. Noel Jackson, who would have turned 90 in June, died February 10 at The Hill at Whitemarsh, Lafayette Hill, where he had resided for several years after moving there from Radnor, Tredyffrin Township. He is survived by Eva, his wife; Donald, Catherine Tate (John), and Christine Campbell (William), his children; and by several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He was born in Georgia and a proud descendant of Protestants expelled in the 1730s by the Archbishop of Salzburg and invited by the Georgia Trustees to settle in the new colony, near Savannah. Noel became a life member of the Georgia Salzburger Society. After studying at North Georgia College in Dahlonega, he completed the Navy's Officer Training Program at Columbia University before he was assigned to the Pacific Theater, from where he returned in 1946; he remained in the Navy Reserve. After graduating from the University of Georgia in 1948 with a degree in physics and mathematics, he joined and worked for Westinghouse Electric Corporation for 38 years in various locations, ending up in the Philadelphia area, where he met and married his wife Eva in 1971. After they moved to the Tredyffrin Panhandle, they created a woodland garden with rhododendrons and azaleas. Noel was active in the Valley Forge Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society, an early Director of Jenkins Arboretum & Gardens, and served on United Way committees and on the former West Park Hospital Board. After his retirement, he joined St. Davids Golf Club, served on the Board of the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District, and was an active member and a past President of the Panhandle Civic Association. Noel's ashes will be scattered on family land in Georgia on what would have been his 90th birthday and at the Oregon Coast. Donations in his memory may be made to Jenkins Arboretum & Gardens, 631 Berwyn Baptist Road, Devon, PA 19333, or to an organization of the donor's choice. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, March 22, 2014- 11 a.m., at Grace Baptist Church 437 Skippack Pike, Blue Bell ,Pa. 19422 Funeral arrangements are by the Lownes Family Funeral Home of Lafayette Hill. .