Jackson, Elyria Christian

Elyria (Tillie) Christian Jackson, 85, passed away Sunday, February 22, 2009, at the Kroontje Health Center in Blacksburg.

She was a retired LPN from Retreat Hospital in Richmond from 1974 until 1988 and was a Red Cross volunteer during World War II. She was a member of Branch’s Baptist Church in Richmond where she was a member of the choir. Over the years she blessed many people with her beautiful voice at Grove Avenue Baptist, Monument Heights Baptist, and Branch’s Baptist Church while she was in Richmond and the many employees at the Kroontje Health Center in Blacksburg. She was member of Woodmen of the World.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 52 years, Melvin Randolph Jackson; her parents, Norval I and Elyria Atkinson Christian; and a brother-in-law, Charles E. Jackson. Survivors include two sons and daughters-in-law, Dana and Eileen Jackson, of Fairlawn, and Gary and Sharon Jackson, of Blacksburg; four grandchildren, Tommy Jackson and his wife, Sarah, of Radford, Pete Jackson and his wife, Jess, of Plum Creek, Sarah Jackson, of Harrisonburg, and Rachel Jackson, of Blacksburg; a sister and brother-in-law, Dorothy “Dot” and Henry H. Dunston Jr., of Glen Allen; and four nephews, John Jackson and his wife, Sylvia, of Milford, Del., Robert Dunston and his wife, Norma, of Williamsburg, Ky., James Dunston, of Richmond, and David Dunston and his wife, Mary, of Glen Allen; and three stepgreat-grandchildren.

The family would like to express their gratitude to the staff at Kroontje Health Center for their care of “Tillie” during her stay since 2005.

Funeral services will be held Thursday, February 26, 2009 at 11 a.m., at the Central Chapel of Bennett Funeral Home, 3215 Cutshaw Ave., Richmond. Interment will follow in the Forest Lawn Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to the Kroontje Health Center at Warm Hearth, Benevolent Fund, 1000 Litton Lane, Blacksburg, Va. 24060.

The family will receive friends from 2 to 4 p.m. and from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Bennett Funeral Home. The Jackson family is in the care of Mullins Funeral Home & Crematory in Radford. www.mullinsfuneralhome.com