Jacqulyn Raye Perfetto, 73, left us to join her Heavenly Father on December 29, 2017. She passed peacefully in Hartford, Connecticut after a battle with lung disease. Jackie was born on September 20, 1944 in Houston, Texas. She was always fiercely proud of her Texan heritage but also had a great love for New England, living for many years in Connecticut and Maine, and the Canadian Maritimes, living for awhile on Grand Manan Island. A woman of faith and love for the Lord, she is a member of the North Head Baptist Church.

She is survived by a loving family including a daughter, 3 granddaughters, 2 great grandsons, 2 sisters, 5 brothers, and several nieces, nephews and their families. She is also greatly missed by many wonderful friends, several of them life long. To know Jackie was to love her. She loved to laugh and was always the life of the party.

Jackie worked in many jobs over the years from a matron in a jail, an assistant in a morgue, to a waitress in Hollywood. She retired after 22 years of service to the University of Connecticut. In her retirement, Jackie was never really happy unless she was volunteering. She was a familiar face to many in the Bath/Brunswick area at Midcoast Hospital, Maine Maritime Museum, the Bath Soup Kitchen, Maine Eastern Railroad, and her favorite, the Coastal Humane Society.

Jackie was a life long learner and always had a thirst for knowledge. She was never without a book or two, always on the look out for a good movie, and ready to debate politics and environmental issues. She also had many passions. A talented actress who loved to sing and dance, Jackie began acting at a young age and went on to star in many plays in California, Texas, and locally in Bath, Brunswick, and Harpswell. Her highlight was playing her idol Lucy in an I Love Lucy production. Just a few short years ago, in one of her last performances, she stole the show with her belly dancing routine.

She loved nature, the ocean, and travel. Over the years she enjoyed canoeing the Allagash Waterway, walking on Popham Beach, completing a cross country trip of America, and traveling twice to the British Isles, once on a solo adventure.

Her greatest love of all was for animals of any kind, but especially elephants, birds, and cats. Nothing made her happier than helping homeless animals. She faithfully carried cat food in her car and could spot a stray on the darkest of nights.

Jackie was a gentle and fragile soul who will be greatly missed. A celebration of Jackie’s life will be held on Sunday July 8 from 1 to 4 at the West Bath Seaside Grange. For more information, please call 207-721-0506.