Claribel Prince

Claribel Smith Jackson Prince, 97, passed peacefully in her sleep on November 21, 2023, at Touchmark at Meadow Lake Village in Meridian, Idaho.

She was born on November 7, 1926, to Lewis Franklin Smith and Irene Jane (Emmons) Smith at the family homestead near Darlington, Idaho. She attended grade school in Darlington and started high school in Mackay, Idaho. When her parents were ill in 1943, she moved to Jerome to live with her sister, Goldie Petitt and graduated from Jerome High School in 1944.

Claribel worked any job she could find while in high school to help cover living expenses. After graduating, she worked in the clerical department at the Hunt Relocation Camp for the Department of Interior. 

Claribel married W. Glen Jackson before a Justice of the Peace on October 12, 1945, when Glen was home on leave from the US Navy. They made their home in Jerome and raised their four children.

She attended a local church when living in Darlington and, after marrying Glen, became a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints member.

Claribel enjoyed being a member of the J-roamers camping group for many years. She loved square dancing and playing pinochle. She worked hard with other seniors who went door to door and business to business to request a new Jerome Senior Center tax on the next ballot. Then, they lobbied to pass the bill, and the city built a new Senior Center at 520 N Lincoln Avenue in Jerome. The town built the building but could not cover landscape improvements and sidewalks needed for the park to draw people in to use it. Claribel’s family offered to design, furnish, and install the park plants, bushes, trees, benches, and sidewalks. The improvements were donated to the city in honor of Glen and Claribel Jackson. She took great pleasure when people shared how much they enjoyed reading on the benches in the sun and taking their leisure strolls through the greenery along the winding sidewalks. 

Claribel’s hobby was work, and she shared that hobby with her family. In 2019, at the age of 92, she was still caring for her flowers and rose gardens when she suffered a stroke. She spent a year in assisted living in Jerome before moving to Boise to live with her daughter. In October of 2022, doctors said she needed care that included complete medical services and hospice. She lived at the Owyhee building of Touchmark at Meadow Lake Village in Meridian, under the eye of Keystone Hospice and her family, for the last 13 months. 

She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband, W. Glen Jackson. Glen passed in 1982 at the age of 60. She married Walter Prince in Jerome on March 26, 1988. Walt passed in 1994. Her oldest son, Layne Jackson, passed away in 2017. Layne and Nancy’s baby daughter, Farrah, also preceded her in death. Claribel was the 11^th of 13 children and outlived her 12 siblings, their spouses, and her six Jackson brothers and sisters-in-law.

Claribel is survived by her daughter, Elaine Martin and Elaine’s sons, Tory (Lori) Martin, Justin (Autumn Jensen) Martin, daughter-in-law, Nancy (Layne, dec.) Jackson, and their children, Shana Jackson, Jarrod (Lydia) Jackson, Devan (Christie) Jackson, Kaila (Menno) Peachey, Carrie (Levi Titus) Jackson, and Daina Jackson; son, Robert G. (Bob) Jackson, and his children, Robert G Jackson, Jr., Julie (Shayne) McKeel, Richard (Rich) Jackson. Suzanne (Berry) Prescott, Elizabeth (Kevin) Meyers, James (Tiffany) Jackson, and Joe (Rainey) Jackson; and her youngest son, Rocky L. Jackson, and his daughter, Heather (Carl) Johnston; 29 great-grandchildren; and a growing number of great-great-grandchildren. 

Funeral service will be held at 11:00 am, Friday, November 24, 2023, at Farnsworth Mortuary, 1343 S Lincoln Ave, Jerome. Burial will conclude at the Jerome Cemetery. Following the graveside service, a luncheon will be provided by the Jerome 10th Ward Relief Society at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 825 E Ave B, Jerome.

Memories and condolences may be shared with the family on Claribel's memorial webpage at www.farnsworthmortuary.com.