Jacqueline Grace Jenoure, 93, transitioned peacefully, surrounded by family, on May 9, 2025, in Beverly Hills, Calif. She was an avid adventurer, animal activist, lifelong learner, beloved educator, and, most importantly, a loving mother and grandmother. Jacqueline led a full and illustrious life, teaching science and math at the elementary school level for three decades.
Born in New York City on Jan. 10, 1932, and raised in the Bronx by Jamaican parents, Jacqueline was the youngest of six children, the only daughter, and the last living child of Emma Dewar Spence and Maurice Alfred Jenoure, who had immigrated from the West Indies to America through Ellis Island in the 1920s.
Jacqueline was a true Renaissance woman. She attended Prospect Junior High and Walton High School in the Bronx before earning a B.A. from Fairleigh Dickinson University. She married twice — first to her childhood sweetheart, John McMillan, an NYPD detective, with whom she had three daughters; and later to Dr. Theophilus Roberts, a pathologist. Jacqueline settled in Teaneck, N.J., where she and John raised their children before amicably separating in 1966.
Her passion for travel took her to many off-the-beaten-path destinations, including Wroxton, England, and both Transylvania and Bucharest, Romania. She studied abroad during school breaks, eventually earning a master’s degree in education. Jacqueline’s path as an educator began during the rise of the Head Start program, and she advocated fiercely for children in her community, often using her own resources to provide science supplies for her classroom.
In 1975, Jacqueline purchased a home in the Highlands, a historic neighborhood of Oak Bluffs, where she became a summer resident. For two years, she relocated to the Island full-time to teach middle school, deepening her connection to its indigenous American and African American heritage.
Jacqueline had a deep and spiritual connection to animals and nature. It was not unusual for friends and family to hear her enthusiastically describe train travel across the U.S. and Canada with her granddaughter Emma, planning dogsledding trips to Greenland, or relating her awe-inspiring experiences observing polar bears and penguins in Alaska. Her love for animals led her to rescue numerous pets, including a retired racing greyhound named Hannah. This adoption catalyzed her involvement with the anti-dog-racing movement in Connecticut.
Affectionately called a “shero” by her niece, Jacqueline was never afraid to speak her mind, even as she aged. Many described her just as her middle name suggests: “a woman of grace.” She was a deacon and member of the First Presbyterian Church of Englewood, N.J., and more recently, a devoted congregant at Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church in California. She also pursued holistic and natural healing, Eastern religions, and participated regularly in Buddhist meditation.
Jacqueline’s memory lives on through her three daughters, Karen D. McMillan, Dianne McMillan-Brannen, and Jacqueline Chrisette Hudlin; her sons-in-law, John Brannen and Reginald Hudlin; and her four grandchildren, Jessica McMillan Gregory, Emma Alexandra Brannen, Helena Grace Hudlin, and Alexander Augustus Hudlin. She also leaves behind three generations of Jenoures, including nieces, nephews, and grand- and great-grandnieces and nephews, all of whom will miss her dearly and carry forward her legacy.
For more information, please contact Chrisette Hudlin via email at chrisette.hudlin@gmail.com, or by phone at 310-678-4336.
