Obituary of Willy Johanna Jackson

April 2, 1931 – November 30, 2014Willy Johanna Jackson passed away peacefully November 30 at home in Harrisburg of heart failure. She was born April 2, 1931 to Johannes and Willempje Van der Knaap in Vlaardingen, Holland. She was the youngest of 3 children.During WWII her country was occupied by the Germans and Willy and her family endured intense hardships to survive. For part of the war they lived in the village of Putten, where on October 1, 1945 the Nazis burned most of the buildings and herded off 661 men to camps.After the war Willy and her family waited 3 years for a visa to immigrate to the U.S. Worse than the wait, she said, were the 9 days by boat and then 5 days on a Greyhound bus finally to arrive in Long Beach, CA. Willy became a U.S. citizen shortly after and with her broken English started sewing in a factory after saying to the owner, "You show; I do."Willy married Fred W. Jackson in 1953 and they lived in the Los Angeles area. Willy worked as a lead at American Latex and at Virtue Brothers, both sewing factories that made seats for various things and furniture. Fred and Willy had a daughter, Susan, in 1967. The family moved to Harrisburg, Oregon in 1968, just in time to be snowed in for 2 weeks during the "Big Snow."In 1971 Willy and Fred completed a new house they had designed and built by themselves. Willy enjoyed building with her husband. That was the second house they did together. Fred died in 1978.Willy enjoyed working outdoors and weeded beets for Hugh Malpass Farms, pruned blueberries for Doris Pimm, and spent many years with George and Liz Van Leeuwen doing everything on their farm from weeding grass seed to sacking seed.In the 1980's she became the alterations and tailoring person for the Corvallis and Albany Emporium stores. She worked there for 22 years. Willy spent many happy years with her companion, Don Ebert, going on date nights twice a week to local bars for dancing and her usual 2 glasses of blush wine. She loved to talk and socialize with people and these nights with friends meant the world to her. Willy could always be counted on for being blunt and "telling it like it is."Willy is survived by her daughter, Susan Jackson, husband, Bryan Shaddy and two grandchildren, Rosalee and Ava of Harrisburg; sister, Jane Wagner of Hemet, CA; niece, Rose Warschauer and family of Riverside, CA; and sister-in-law, Patsy Anderson and family of Portland.She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, brother Jacob, niece Yvonne and Don Ebert.Funeral services will be held at the United Methodist Church, 7th and Smith, in Harrisburg on Saturday, December 6th at 1 p.m. followed by a committal at Alford Cemetery. A Remembrance Gathering will be held in the lounge area of Golden Chopstix in Harrisburg on Saturday, December 6th at 7 p.m.Donations may be made to Harrisburg Fire Department.Arrangements entrusted to Murphy-Musgrove Funeral Home. Please access the obituary and you are invited to sign the guestbook at musgroves.com