Jacqueline de Merken Argall

Jacqueline Emmanuelle Chantal Marie Ghislaine de Marcken de Merken Argall, born on November 26, 1938, in Louvain, Belgium, as a US citizen, lost her brief battle to cancer on October 7.

She is survived by her three daughters and their spouses, Emily and Charlie Price of Fairfield, and their three children; Alix and Chuck Cavas; ex-husband Eric Meystre, of Wakefield, R.I., and their two children; and Amy and Amadally Hosseinbukus, of Scarsdale, N.Y., and their two children.

Mrs Argall is also survived by her siblings Christian de Marcken of West Boylston, Mass.; Francoise de Halleux of Longueville, Belgium; Anne Neil of Lakeville; Louis de Marcken of Perwez-Maleves, Belgium; Pierre de Marcken of Wavre, Belgium; Beatrice Miner of Dallas, Ore.; and Baudouin de Marcken of Babbit, Minn. She will also be missed by numerous beloved aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews, neighbors and friends.

She was predeceased by her parents, Alix de Kerchove d’Exaerde and Gustave Richard Theodore de Marcken de Merken; her former husband, Dr Temby R. Argall, and sister Myriam Moncheur.

“Jackie” was a longtime resident of Newtown, where she raised her family and lived until a year ago. She was number eight of nine siblings brought up as American citizens in Belgium during World War II. She moved with her family to Taconic, Conn., at the age of 14.

Graduated from Housatonic Regional Valley High School in Falls Village, she attended Boston College and is a graduate of the Saint Francis School of Nursing in Hartford. She furthered her degree in nursing, to become an RN, when her children attended college, believing you are never too old to learn new things.

Along with being a loving mother to her three girls and grandchildren, she was a caring and compassionate nurse with a long career at Danbury Hospital. She was a Vizsla dog breeder and owner, giving one puppy from every litter to a child in need. She was one of the originators of the Connecticut Valley Vizsla Club in the early 1970s, and was still involved with the organization more than three decades later. She was an avid gardener, a member of The Newtown Horticulture Club, and taught her girls that digging in the dirt and the sharing of plants was a way to pass on love. She was a friend to all who met her. She believed in the power of prayer and taught that family was the most important part of happiness.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests a prayer for peace, love and happiness, and/or a donation to the Philip Hulitar Home & Hospice Care of Rhode Island, 1085 North Main Street, Providence RI 02904, “who took such great care of our Mom, a former nurse, the last two days of her life.”

A funeral service was scheduled for Thursday, October 11, at the Our Lady of Mercy Parish, East Greenwich, R.I.

The Newtown Bee           October 12, 2012