Mary Teresa Jackson

Mary Teresa (Genga) Jackson, 93 of Newport, Rhode Island, passed away peacefully in her home, surrounded by her loving family on August 12, 2022. She was the wife of the late J. Raymond Jackson.
Mary was born in Newport on April 16, 1929, to the late Biagio and Ines Genga, immigrants from Fano, Italy who came to America through Ellis Island, eventually making Newport their home. Mary attended St. Joseph's Hazard Memorial School and was a 1946 graduate St. Catherine's Academy.
Mary was an accomplished professional, working many years as the bookkeeper for her bothers' business, Genga Brothers Construction. Outside of the family business she worked for JC Penny, Sperry and Unisys in between her two tenures with the Preservation Society of Newport. Mary's sharp mind and excellence with numbers made her a highly valued team member of the "money room" at the Preservation Society, reconciling daily sales and receipts all the way until August of 2016 when she was 87 years old.
Mary's greatest accomplishment, however, was her family. In 1951 she married the love of her life, Ray Jackson and together they built a home on Xavier Terrace in Newport and raised six children. The importance of immediate and extended family was a fundamental truth in Mary and Ray's household and one of the greatest gifts they gave.
Mary was a woman of great catholic faith and was a lifelong communicant of St. Joseph's Church. She shared her grace with the parish by serving as a eucharistic minister and as a religious education instructor for decades, long after her own children had grown.
Mary is survived by her children, J. Raymond Jackson, Jr. and his wife Linda of Tiverton, RI, J. Robert Jackson of Cranston, RI, Joann R. Mitchell of Portsmouth, RI, James R. Jackson, and his wife Gail, of Newport, RI, J. Ronald Jackson and his wife Laura of Colwich, KS, and J. Russell Jackson and his wife Karin of Newport, RI. Mary is also survived by twenty adoring grandchildren, their spouses, and nine great grandchildren, who will all miss their Nanna terribly. In addition to her immediate family, Mary is survived by her sisters-in-law, Eileen Johnson of Middletown and Helen Jackson of North Dighton, MA, the two being the last of their great generation in the family. Mary is also survived by thirty nieces, nephews, and their families.
Mary is preceded in death by her husband, J. Raymond Jackson; her brothers and their spouses, Eno and Barbara Genga, Hugo and Florence Genga, and John and Phyllis Genga; her infant granddaughters Mary Elizabeth Jackson and Patricia Roberta Jackson; and her daughter in law, Patricia Jackson.
Visiting hours will be held on Tuesday, August 16, 2022, from 4:00 PM to 7:00PM at the Memorial Funeral Home, 375 Broadway, Newport Rhode Island.
Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, August 17, 2022, at 9:00 AM from the Memorial Funeral Home with a Mass of Christian Burial to follow at 9.30 AM at St. Joseph's Church, Broadway, Newport, Rhode Island. Burial will follow at St. Columba Cemetery, Middletown, Rhode Island.
Memorial donations in the name of Mary T. Jackson may be made to Visiting Nurse Home & Hospice. www.visitingnursehh.org