Obituary : Jacqueline M. Sexton
Jacqueline Molloy Sexton, who had just recently celebrated her 59th wedding anniversary, died on June 29 at her home in Chilmark.
She was born in Newark, N.J., on August 12, 1926, the daughter of Eugenia Molloy Van Roberts of Mystic, Conn., and Charles J. Molloy of East Orange, N.J. She was the stepdaughter of Lee Van Roberts of Mystic.
She attended Short Hills County Day School from 1934 to 1940, Kent Place School in Summit, N.J., from 1940 to 1944, and graduated from Smith College with a bachelor of arts degree in 1948.
She was married to Donald Southworth Sexton Jr. in Christ Protestant Episcopal Church in Short Hills, N.J., on June 3, 1950.
They lived briefly in Minneapolis, Minn.; Des Moines, Iowa; and Stamford, Conn., prior to a six-year stay in Caracas, Venezuela, where Jackie was the women's page, social page, and special supplement editor for the English-language Caracas Daily Journal.
During her 20 years in Mexico City, Mexico, her writing career continued as a feature writer for the Mexico City Times and the newspaper Amistad. Jackie also found time to teach American executives Spanish.
Upon her arrival in Chilmark in late 1982, Jackie became a volunteer at the Chilmark Library, which led to a trusteeship of 18 years. At the advent of The Martha's Vineyard Times, Jackie started a 25-year stint as a feature writer and as the Chilmark column correspondent. During the same period, she was also a feature writer for other publications, such as Cape Cod Life.
Surviving members of her family are her husband of 59 years, Donald S. Sexton of Chilmark; her sons, Donald S. Sexton III and his wife, Iliana, of Chilmark, David B. Sexton and his wife, Cat, of Wakefield; two grandchildren, Mazzy Sexton of Wakefield and Brittany Sexton of Harwich; sisters-in-law, Mrs. Nell Molloy of Houston, Texas, Mrs. Susan Boynton of San Francisco, Calif., and Mrs. Prudence Swingle of Leesburg, Fla.; and numerous nieces and nephews in Texas, California, Alaska, and Indonesia.
Later this summer, a family service is planned at the gravesite.
If you wish to remember Jackie, please donate in her name to Hospice, Visiting Nursing Association, and/or the Chilmark Community Church.
