Jacqueline M. (Turner) Vannah, 90, formerly of Gloucester and Essex, died Tuesday, May 23, at her daughter’s Derry, NH home. She was the wife of the late Richard D. Vannah, who passed in 1993.
Born on April 17, 1933, in her family’s Perkin Street home in Gloucester, she was one of the two children of the late Lindsay E. and Laura S. (Madruga) Turner. The family soon moved to Bray Street, where she was raised. She was a 1951 graduate of Gloucester High School. Following her graduation, the family moved to Harlow Street in Essex.
The Vannahs married on August 23, 1953, at St John the Baptist Church in Essex. They soon bought their first home on Rocky Neck, Gloucester, where they raised their family. In 1970 they built a home next door to her parents on Harlow Street, on the land gifted to them on their wedding day and where they lived until 1993.
Jackie was a member of the St John the Baptist Catholic Church, where she and Richard ran the Christmas Church Bazaar for many years. She was a member of the YMCA Couples Club and President and Treasurer of T.O.P.S, developing many lifelong friendships.
She was an avid reader and knitter, having knitted special Christmas stockings for every member of her family. She was also a big Red Sox and Tom Brady fan and enjoyed watching all the games with her sons and sons-in-law. Her passion was caring for her grandchildren, and she enjoyed walking them in their carriages for hours.
Jacqueline was the most incredible daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and friend, and she had special relationships with everyone she encountered.
She is survived by three sons, Rick D. Vannah and his wife Brenda of Falls Church, VA, Mark D. Vannah and his wife Julie of Center Conway, NH, Everett L. Vannah of Manchester, NH; two daughters, Laura E.V. Mitchell and her husband Daniel of Norfolk, VA, Lisa S. Tarsook and her husband Paul of Derry, NH; six grandchildren, Nicholas J. Mitchell and his wife Dawn, Auriel V. Mitchell all of VA, Jacqueline S. Mercier and her husband Luke of TN, Alexander C.R. Tarsook and his fiancée’ Abby of Hooksett, NH, Chatsuda and Chatdarw Kongaew both of VA; three great-grandchildren, Reed, Jackson and Antonia, and great-great-grandson Leo. She was the grandmother of the late Tammy Thomas; great-grandmother of the late Chiyeh Chang and sister of the late Claude Turner, formerly of Essex.
A Funeral Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at noon on Wednesday, May 31 at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Main Street, Essex. Family and friends are respectfully welcomed. Interment will follow in the Spring Street Cemetery, Essex. Funeral Arrangements are under the direction of the Whittier-Porter Funeral Home of Ipswich. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in her name may be made to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital donors@stjude.org.
