Obituary of Nancy Perkins Jacobson

Nancy Perkins Jacobson (b. November 21, 1943) died in the Palliative Care Unit of the Aberdeen Hospital minutes after 7:00 am on October 30, 2024.

She was born in Buffalo, New York to Ralph “Stubby” Perkins Jr. and Nancy Fenton Perkins. Her family moved around but she spoke most fondly of her childhood years spent in Perrysburg, Ohio.  She attended Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut for high school and continued her education at Briarcliff College, then Boston University. It was in 1966 during her graduate studies in painting at the Rhode Island School of Design that she met Alan and began a life with him.

In 1968, they moved to Hamilton, Ontario where she taught studio art at McMaster University. After getting married in 1971, the two moved east to Nova Scotia where they eventually bought 140 acres and a neglected c. 1860 farmhouse in Watervale, Pictou County. There they raised two daughters and built Crarig Farm, a herd of purebred Jersey cows. Nancy became involved in herd improvement through selective breeding and before long, they had developed a herd that garnered attention across Canada and beyond. Some of her heifers, both productive and beautiful, were sold as far away as Brazil. She always had an extensive vegetable garden, growing a market garden in the early years, more for the root cellar, the freezer, and the preserves shelf since. Her flower gardens were beautiful, her quilts imaginative, unusual, and cherished, as were her knitted sweaters, hats, mitts and slippers.

Nancy lived a rich and social life in rural Pictou County, supporting and supported by long-time and very dear friends and members of the larger community. In the early years, she was very involved with a consciousness-raising Women's Group, served on the committee that got the Salt Springs School built, later becoming a school trustee, and was active with the Nova Scotia Jersey Cattle Club. In recent years, she went to the opera in New Glasgow on Saturdays with friends, attended her weekly tai chi classes, adored her grandchildren, and cooked elaborate meals for company.

She is survived by her husband, Alan Jacobson; daughters, Nora (Billy Druker), their children, Eli and Oona, Head of St. Margaret's Bay and Emily (Johan Kempkens), their children, Daphne, William and Dylan, Montreal, Que.; sister, Florence Rawls, Jaffrey, New Hampshire.

Her family has infinite gratitude for the nurses in the Palliative Care Unit (angels on earth), for the expertise and kindness of doctors, and for the many friends who showed their love and support.

A drop-in visitation will be held at Nancy and Alan's house, 16 Craig Road, Watervale, anytime between 1 - 5 pm on Saturday, November 9th, 2024.

Donations may be made in Nancy’s memory to the Aberdeen Health Foundation Palliative Care Fund.