A cherry blossom petal blows in the wind; a light grows dim.
Jacqueline Francine Colson passed away in her sleep September 13, 2018 after a long struggle with Parkinsonism. She always asked, “Why does it have to take everything?”
But we will see you in the blooming flowers. We will feel you in the breeze. We will hear you when a clever raven caws. We will feel your hugs when we lay in the cool grass. We will see the twinkle in your eyes in the starry night sky. We will feel your kisses as the warm Georgia sun hits our rosy cheeks. We will hear your laughter in a horse’s whinny and neigh. We will see you waving at us when the wind dances between the leaves in our trees. We know you will be here with us always.
Jacqueline was born October 13, 1951 in Fernandina Beach, Fla. She always retained a warm place in her heart for her southern family, friends, and places. She had fond memories of childhood summers with her grandparents on Harriet’s Bluff that have stayed with her forever.
Jacqueline always had a brilliant intellect and graduated from the University of Alabama with degrees in biology and law. After graduating from law school, she pursued a career in environmental law with the EPA, city of Atlanta, and the state of Alaska Department of Law in Fairbanks, Alaska. She received a presidential citation for her legal work while at the EPA.
Early in her professional career she was exposed to a range of chemicals in the workplace and developed multiple chemical sensitivity, a chronic illness that affected her to the end of her life and prematurely ended her professional career. However, Jacqueline continued to write, research, work pro bono, and advocate for environmental issues and causes for the poor, sick, and disadvantaged.
Jacqueline had a noble heart and was kind, thoughtful, honest, compassionate, and generous. She had class, a keen intellect, and a warm sense of humor. She loved her time on the ranch in Arizona with her horses, Mink and Amira, dogs, and a few chickens. Jacqueline will be dearly missed and forever cherished.
Jacqueline is survived by her loving and dedicated husband, Gary Walklin; her cherished son, Alex Hadjidakis, and his wife, Erin; grandson, Apollo; father, Jack Colson; brother, Blair Colson; and brother Scott Colson, and his wife, Rebecca, and their children Olivia and Emily.
Gary’s children include Meadow Bailey and her husband, Bill, and their daughters, Ella and Symone; Ian Pennell-Walklin, and his wife, Christen, and their children, Eli and Sophia; and Sean Walklin and his wife, Brittany, and their children, Armani and Eleanor.
Jacqueline was preceded in death by her mother, Frances Colson.
She always regretted that she would not survive to be a greater part of the grandchildren’s lives.