Jacqueline Marcelle Zervas

1931 - 2020

Jacqueline Marcelle Zervas, born January 31, 1931, passed away this February 26. Jacqueline was born to Marcelle and Gabriel Aubriet. She was the fourth of five children, who included her older brother, Pierre, and sisters Yvette and Frédérique; and her younger brother, Jean-Claude. Jacqueline was born in Nonant le Pin, a small town in Normandie, France. After surviving the horrifying war years there, Jacqueline, her mother, and brothers and sisters moved away, and Jacqueline prepared to go to medical school. She soon changed her mind and instead took a job as a graphic designer—she had, from the time she was a child, always been a brilliant visual artist (and musician)—at the Évreux-Fauville Air Base, which was operated by the United States Air Force in connection with the stirrings of the cold war. In 1956, Jacqueline moved with her American husband whom she had met at the base, and her first child, Fabienne, to the United States. They came to Bellingham to attend what was then the New Whatcom State Normal School to obtain teaching degrees. In the meantime, she bore two more daughters, Dawn and Dominique. After Jacqueline and her husband divorced, she and her three daughters moved to a beautiful, magical, handmade cedar home in the country, surrounded by fields and forest; during this time, she taught French at Mount Baker High School. In 1961, George Bartholick introduced fellow architect, Jim Zervas, to Jacqueline and her three young daughters. Jim and Jacqueline were married in 1961, and Jim joined the little family in their grand cedar castle. Soon after, two boys, Claude and Christopher, joined the growing family. During Jim and Jacqueline’s 49-year stay at the magical cedar castle, it was a home filled with music, magic acts, painting, reading, sewing, knitting, and all kinds of play. Although Jacqueline taught French at Western Washington University as a profession, and stopped moments short of completing a doctorate in linguistics, she was always an artist at heart—whether in teaching, at life, or in dance, music, textiles, watercolor, pastels, pencil, and even crayon. She danced Flamenco at Theo and Isabelle Morca’s studio and studied and performed belly dancing. She practiced yoga and tai chi, and meditated, every day. Jacqueline was fascinated by nature, languages, cultures, and people from other countries, and loved the sun—these fascinations took her to Mexico, Turkey, Israel, Morocco, Italy, Spain and other sun-filled countries. She lived with the people in those countries and learned their languages and cultures, becoming conversant in some of the most challenging ones. Jacqueline maintained her French citizenship with intentionality and returned there often—sometimes with Jim and sometimes on her own—whether to Paris, Corsica, or their little, sometimes-home on the Mediterranean where together they took walks and swam every day. Jacqueline’s life was filled with adventure, and she always returned to the cedar castle, Jim, and their children. Her children, Vincent Vinh-Hung, Fabienne, Dawn, Dominique, Claude, and Christopher; her grandchildren, Arianna, Stefano, Didier, Pascal, Nicolo and Yvette; and great-grandchildren, Mattia, Nico, and Madison, will all miss her. Jacqueline’s passing was simple and tender; she slipped away after rinsing her mouth with Champagne, and while the beautiful letters poet Rainer Marie Rilke wrote to a young poet in the early 1900’s were read to her. Many and deep thanks to all the fine people who provided Jacqueline with loving and attentive care, including her private caregivers and those from Whatcom Hospice Services. A memorial event will be held at a later time.