Obituary of Jacqueline E. Tinsley

Jacqueline E. Tinsley (known to family and friends as Jackie) passed away on December 2, 2012 in Scarborough, Maine at the Gosnell Memorial Hospice House, having spent the day with all three of her children. Born the daughter of Vasil Joseph and Mary Veronica (Perash) Delet-Kanic on February 20th, 1920 in "Bear Hollow" near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Jackie grew up on a farm in a family of 9 children. Her older brothers were Michael, John, Joseph and William (Bill). Her sisters were Gertrude Forred and Dorothy Maurer, and she had two younger (twin) brothers Lawrence (Larry) and Leonard. She was known as Betty Delet-Kanic in her childhood. She graduated from Wilkes-Barre High School in 1936. Like so many of her contemporaries she lived through the Great Depression of the 1930s which made her a "saver" for the rest of her life. In 1939 she moved to New York City to find work and perhaps adventure and romance. She found all that and more as what some call the "greatest generation" fought the 2nd World War. During this time she met Warwick M. (Bill) Tinsley whom she married in 1943. Bill was assigned to the battleship USS Arkansas in the Atlantic and later to the cruiser USS Guam in the Pacific. Following the war they lived many places during Bill's career with the US Department of Agriculture in the Soil Conservation Service (SCS), with the last location being Orono, Maine where Bill directed all SCS activities in the State. In 1979 upon Bill's retirement, he and Jackie moved to Cape Elizabeth, Maine, the place of Bill's family roots, where Jackie would live for the next 33 years. During these years they enjoyed family, gardening, community service and travel to many interesting destinations throughout the world. Jackie lost Bill in 2004 after 61 years of marriage. She is survived by her son Steven and daughter-in-law Joan Tinsley of Orenburg Russia; her daughter Dawn and son-in-law James Doherty of Chippenhook, Vermont; and her daughter Deborah and son-in-law Greg Cross of Edinburg, Virginia. Additonally , she is survived by 10 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren. Jacqueline's funeral service will held Saturday, December 8, 2012 at 11:00 AM from the Curtis L. Swanson Funeral Home, Inc, corner of routes 29 & 118, Pikes Creek with Rev. Carol Folk, pastor of the Loyalville United Methodist Church, officiating. Interment will be in the Kocher Cemetery, Ruggles. Friends may call from 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM prior to the service on Saturday. Online condolences can be made at clswansonfuneralhome.com