Jacqueline Simon Nagel Kaufman
December 20, 1928 – February 3, 2022
Jacqueline Simon Nagel Kaufman passed away peacefully at her home in Maryland on February 3, 2022 surrounded by family. She was 93.
Jacqueline (aka "Jaclene") was a true renaissance woman. Her vast talents as an artist, cabinetmaker, businesswoman, house builder, volunteer, pilot and advocate for justice are just a few of the ways she impacted friends, family and strangers whom she met through work and traveling. She was a woman of action and principle and a role model for rising above adversary.
Jacqueline is predeceased by her loving husbands Norman Nagel and William Kaufman and her parents Pearl Sigoloff Simon and Meyer (Mike) Simon. She is survived by her children, Stephanie Nagel, Scott Nagel (and Stacey Nagel), Jeff Nagel (and Laura Kurlander-Nagel), Deborah Weissman (and Lou Perez) and Marsha Weissman (and Jim Vermeulen). She is also survived by 10 grandchildren (plus one deceased) and 7 great-grandchildren.
Jacqueline, an only child, was born in St Louis, Mo. She started volunteering for charities as a teenager and continued up until age 90. She was a natural artist and was awarded a scholarship to Washington University in St. Louis where she met her first husband Norm Nagel. Norm proposed on their first date, and Jacqueline left school after one year to marry Norman in 1947 and move to New York City.
In New York she studied painting and sculpture, creating life-size canvases in oils and watercolors. She earned her pilot's license and the Nagels bought a plane that they kept in a small airport on Staten Island. She continued volunteering, and drove WW II vets to hospitals, learned braille, and recorded books for the Home for the Blind.
Norman died suddenly in 1977 on the 30th anniversary of their marriage. She took over the family's wine and liquor store managing it full time until she met her second husband William (Bill) Kaufman and moved to California and then Eugene, Oregon. Together they traveled extensively to Italy, France, Russia, Israel, Holland, Australia the Caribbean and North America, and regularly hosted friends from around the world. Bill died suddenly in 1995.
Jaqueline stayed in Eugene where she was supported by wonderful friends. She started building homes for Habitat for Humanity, taught reading for Smart Reading, delivered meals to seniors for FOOD for Lane County, collected and repaired books for schoolchildren with FirstBook, learned woodworking and built beautiful furniture; she also went on an archeological dig in Israel. Jacqueline touched so many lives and left a rich and lasting legacy. We miss her more than we can say.
A private family service was held at Mt Ararat Cemetery in New York City.
In lieu of flowers, donations to FOOD for Lane County can be made in Jacqueline's name.