Jacqueline Matthews

Jacqueline (Jackie) Matthews passed away Sunday, August 13, from complications from COPD and an autonomic nerve disorder she had been battling for years. She was two weeks short of her 87th birthday.

Jackie leaves behind her husband, William Matthews; her brother Charles M. Allen and wife Barbara of Tallahassee; granddaughter, Jennifer Kongs; and great granddaughter Lorelei Kongs, both of Port St. Lucie. Her daughter, Leslie Hern, and son William Matthews, Jr., passed away previously.

Jackie and her family moved to Lake Worth in 1947 from Woodbury, New Jersey where she was born. She attended Lake Worth schools and graduated from Lake Worth High School in

1954. Jackie received her BS in degree in journalism and English education in 1958 from Florida State University where she was a member of Gamma Alpha Chi, honorary and house president of her social sorority Alpha Chi Omega. Upon graduation, she was employed by the Palm Beach Post-Times as a reporter. There she met her soon to be husband, Bill, who was employed as a reporter also. They were married in June 1959 and both were employed by the Palatka Daily News, a John H. Perry newspaper, where Bill was a managerial candidate for the John H. Perry newspaper chain.

Jackie and Bill returned to West Palm Beach in 1961 where they raised their two children.

She was active in the First Congregational Church in Lake Worth. Jackie went to work at Meadow Park Elementary when her children attended. She remained at Meadow Park in various capacities for some 26 years.

Upon retirement from the Palm Beach County Schools, Jackie and Bill moved to Creedmoor, North Carolina, to be near their daughter and family. She loved her new house, the rural area they lived in, her newfound friends, the seasons, and her pugs for 22 years. They returned to Port St. Lucie, Florida, in 2019 to be near family. The couple celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary two months prior to her passing.

Jackie courageously fought an autonomic nervous system disorder which resulted in orthostatic hypotension for 25 years. After fracturing both hips in the course of a year, complications from COPD and her nerve disorder resulted in her death.

A Remembrance of Life ceremony will be held 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. at Tillman Funeral Home 2710 South Military Trail, West Palm Beach.