Jacqulyn Stine Boggs

Jacqulyn Stine Boggs (Jackie) (82) gently and peacefully entered her rest on October 29.   Jackie lived a rich, full and vibrant life.  A few days before her death Jackie acknowledged, “I am lucky to have lived this long.  I have fought Multiple Sclerosis for a very long time.”   Multiple Sclerosis attacked Jackie’s body for over 40 years but never wounded her spirit, determination or drive.  Jackie looked Depression and Despair in the face and defied them, embracing hope, gratitude, persistence and determination that inspired countless people.  Her inward eye was fixed on the needs of others, not on herself.  In the end, MS did not define Jackie.  Hope defined Jackie.

Jackie was born in Terre Haute, Indiana on November 9, 1930 to Loren Matchett Stine and Blanche Irene Whitlow Stine.  Raised in Fulton Missouri, Jackie learned the art and skill of cooking, sewing, and household management from her mentor and aunt, Celia Craighead.  A child of the Depression, Jackie was a determined self-made woman who graduated valedictorian of her class at Fulton High School.  She was awarded a scholarship to William Woods College (also in Fulton) where she attended for two years.   Her education was completed at Missouri University in Columbia, where she enjoyed her membership in the Gamma Phi Beta Sorority.  Jackie graduated in 1952 from MU with a degree in Home Economics.

Jackie applied her skills to her work as a Home- Economics teacher at Norman School in Kansas City, Missouri and as a dietician for Pin Oak Girl Scout Camp also in Missouri.   Jackie was written up in the newspaper for her excellence in home economics competitions numerous times.  In an age where the home arts were highly valued, Jackie excelled in her field, and continued to excel in a different way after meeting the love of her life, Marion Alpheus Boggs Jr. (Al) at Central Presbyterian Church in Kansas City, Missouri.  Jackie and Al married at Fulton Presbyterian Church in 1953 and celebrated their sixtieth wedding anniversary last March.  Jackie was Al’s mainstay, support, best friend and loving wife.

Jackie’s work shifted to the private sphere of home, family and community life in 1954.  She poured herself into creating a nurturing, beautiful and loving home.  Jackie enjoyed cooking, landscaping, planning cultural events and day trips for her children, and creating extraordinary Christmas feasts and celebrations.  Diagnosed with MS when she was 39, Jackie explored and discovered innovative ways of how to “make life work.” While Jackie valued her membership and leadership roles for fifty plus years in Home Economists in Home and Community, she found true joy in her fellowship with the members of the Village Church Choir, who she viewed as her other family.    Since the early 1970’s until recent years, Thursday nights were “choir nights.”  Through the uplift of sacred music and of her fellow choir members, the ever-giving-indomitable Jackie found soulful nourishment, strength and restoration for her life’s work.

When Jackie lost her ability to walk and see well, she did not think of what she could no longer do.  Instead, she thought, “what CAN I do?”  “I can still sing, I can still use my fingers to write letters, I can still use my voice to make phone calls.”  Sing, Jackie did.  She said that the hymns of her faith sustained her through the crisis of life that one experiences when living to age 82.   Even when mostly confined to a bed over the past three years, Jackie sang with her loved ones and friends.  She attempted to sing her favorite hymns before she died with her loved ones, and as she slept deeply on her journey to “the otherworld,” as she put it, Jackie, one must believe, heard somewhere in her being, the words of the hymns from those who hugged her and loved her by her bedside.  Jackie has been a hero to many.

Jackie Boggs leaves behind her loving and devoted husband, Al Boggs of Prairie Village, her forever grateful children: Her son Marion A. Boggs III of Coquille, Oregon, her son Marcus Whitlow Boggs,  of Jackson, California, her daughter, Rebecca Kabler Boggs Seyferth of Fairway, Kansas, and her daughter Roberta Flippen Boggs of St. Augustine, Florida.  Jackie also leaves behind her beloved grandchildren, Julianna and Lydia Boggs, Jacqulyn Seyferth and Celia and Cori Moore.

A visitation will be held from 4:30 to 6:30 the afternoon of November 5^th at Signature Funerals, 8019 State Line Road, Kansas City, Missouri, 64114.   Jacqulyn’s Memorial Service will then take place on Wednesday, November 6^th  2013 at 2:00 in the afternoon with a reception to follow at The Village Presbyterian Church, 6641 Mission Road, Prairie Village, Kansas 66208.

Jacqulyn will be laid to rest at Forest Hill Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions in the name of Jacqulyn Stine Boggs to the Kansas City Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society, 7611 State Line Road, #100, Kansas City Missouri, 64114.     Assistance by Funeral Advocates, LLC