Cynthia Maria Strayhorn Jackson

Cynthia Maria Strayhorn Jackson was born on May 30, 1941, in Pollocksville, North Carolina, and called Heaven home on June 9, 2026, in Alexandria, Virginia. She lived eighty-five years with purpose, warmth, and a joy that was entirely her own. The second-born in her family, she had a special, cherished bond with her father, a relationship she adored all her life. She received her early education in the Jones County Public School System. She went on to complete her studies at business school in Durham, North Carolina, laying the foundation for a life of diligence and integrity. Cynthia was a woman of faith and service. She was a faithful member of Alfred Street Baptist Church, where she lifted her voice joyfully as a member of the Young and Adult Choir singing alongside the "Fun Bunch". She gave her time and care to the Alfred Street Finance Committee, where her diligence and integrity spoke quietly but clearly about who she was. She retired from a distinguished career as a tax collector for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Cynthia was madly in love with Reverend Edward Jackson, and she never made a secret of it. In forty-two years of marriage, they built a life that was also a partnership: they traveled together, sang in the choir together, and worked side by side. He was her person, and she was his. Away from work, she tended to her garden with love, steady hands, and quiet attention. She had a lifelong love of sports: she played basketball in high school and carried that competitive spirit into adulthood, taking the field in a softball recreational league and cheering passionately for the game of tennis and basketball throughout her life. She kept moving in every season, through every illness; walking was her daily joy. And if there was a Dallas Cowboys game on, you knew where to find her, screaming at the TV, through every season and every score. She was funny without effort, and always at exactly the right moment, so it came as no surprise to anyone who knew her that her senior class voted her Best Personality. She wore it well then, and she never stopped earning it. She was a devoted friend, a constant presence, and the kind of person whose love felt like something you could stand on. Among her most cherished friendships was Deacon Patricia Johnson and the "Fun Bunch", a circle of friends she had kept close since 1982. She was preceded in death by her beloved parents, George and Victoria White Strayhorn, her brother, Henry F. Strayhorn, and her cherished aunt, Essie Mae White. She is survived by her loving and devoted husband, Reverend Edward Jackson; her children, Tammy Woods and Thea Jackson-Johnson (Bradford); her grandchildren, Rashea and Shabreah Woods, Destine Hooker, and Janée Johnson; her great-granddaughter, Azzorah Miller; her brother, George Strayhorn (Robin); her sister, Gwendolyn Strayhorn; her beloved sister-in-law, Carol Strayhorn; her lifelong childhood friend, Deacon Patricia Johnson; and a host of nieces and nephews and god-children who will carry her forward. She was loved. She knew it.

Cynthia Maria Strayhorn Jackson

May 30, 1941 - June 9, 2026