Our Pi Phi Angel - Lynne Jackson

JACKSON, Lynne Vanerka
5/2/1940 - 4/18/2021

With profound sadness the family of Lynne Jackson announces her death on April 18, 2021 in Tucson. She died from complications following a recent fall at her home.

Lynne moved to the Old Pueblo in 1944 when the Vanerka family moved west from Chicago to find a warmer climate for her father, homebuilder Joseph Vanerka. A graduate of Catalina High School (1958) and the University of Arizona (1962), she pursued creative and artistic interests for the rest of her life. These included painting, needlepoint, decorating and sewing, which she learned as a little girl from her mother, Alice Ayres Vanerka and was her primary creative outlet in her final years. She admired art and creativity in all their forms and her eye and ear found them constantly.

She treasured and maintained her lifelong friendships and added new ones of all ages to an ever-growing list wherever she went. Lynne loved many things - her sisters of the Pi Beta Phi sorority, Wildcat sports, all things Hawaii, beautiful homes, volunteering for causes she believed in, clam dip, her "Bridge Club" and "Hand & Foot gang" and entertaining her family and friends as often as she could.

Of all that Lynne loved and enjoyed, there is a special place that she reserved for her beloved granddaughters, Jane, Molly and Kate, who brought her an abundance of joy and love. She was forever overjoyed to be their Tutu.

Lynne opened her arms to her modern family and loved them all and admired the next generations with great pride and hope. She was not too concerned about last names; when someone she loved came into her life, she loved being their Tutu as well.

Among her survivors are... son, Matthew Scott Clements (San Diego), Edie and Grace O'Brien (Lake Barrington); son, Robert Michael Clements and granddaughters, Jane Alice Clements, Molly Elizabeth Clements and Kate Wheelan Clements (Los Angeles); her first cousins, Doug Vanerka (Marquette), Kay Lopate (Miami), Sarah Carpenter (LaGrange Park) and Lee Fayette (Elmhurst) and Sarah Jackson DiBose (Menlo Park), Anne "Sissy" and Josh Matteson (Lexington) and Laurie and George Jackson (Scottsdale).

If you would like to honor Lynne, may we suggest donations be sent to the Pi Beta Phi "Arizona Alpha" Scholarship Fund. Please send donations to The Pi Beta Phi Foundation, Memo: AZ Alpha Scholarship Fund, 1154 Town and Country Commons Dr., Town and Country, MO 63017

The family is planning a private celebration of Lynne's life on her birthday, May 2, 2021. Please contact Laurie Jackson for details.