Jackie Lee Church

Jackie Lee Church was born on December 6, 1940 to Roy Thurston (R.T.) and Clara (Vest) Church in Princeton, West Virginia, a small, rural, coal-mining town in West Virginia’s Appalachia Mountains. Just two years later but over two thousand miles away, on the other side of the country, Helen Faye Williams was born on January 8, 1943 to Hillary and Leona Mae (Bivens) Williams in Council, Idaho. Tragedy struck both families at a young age. Jackie, the sixth of seven children, lost his mother when he was two years old. She was hospitalized and never returned. Life being raised by a coal miner in the Appalachia Mountains was dirty, rough and impoverished. Helen, or Faye as she was called by her family, was the second of five children. When Faye was four years old, her 18 month old sister Ellen passed away. The family broken, mother Leona took Faye and her two younger siblings and moved to Kansas. Shortly after high school and the death of his father, Jackie enlisted in the air force and following boot camp, was stationed at Forbes Air Force base outside Topeka, Kansas. One night in 1959, he and his friends went to the movies at Jayhawk Movie Theatre in Topeka. Sixteen year old Faye was the usher attempting to show them to their seats. Jackie took exception to Faye’s directions and sparks flew. An immediate and unbreakable attraction erupted, the dynamic duo was formed and together they stayed through good times and bad. The two were married and on June 20, 1960, their only child, Cathy Christine Church, was born. Just a short time thereafter, Jackie was diagnosed with a significant and deadly heart defect. Facing what doctors advised was surely to be Jackie’s early demise, seventeen year old Faye was confronted with the reality of needing to support her young dying husband and their infant daughter. She went looking for a man she knew to owe Jackie $75, and used that money to enroll in beauty school. Faye, who did absolutely everything she ever set her mind to, successfully finished beauty school and in 1962, took Cathy and drove cross-country to join Jackie’s siblings who had all relocated to the Washington DC metro area.. She obtained her first job as a hairdresser at Val’s Salon in Suitland, Maryland, working for Mr. Arthur. Jackie was soon able to join them and he began working as a clerk for Merchants Transport Company. Just three years later, in 1965, Faye entered into her first business partnership and purchased Chic Beauty Salon in Clinton, Maryland. There she styled many of the local community members’ hair, always going by her “professional” name of Helen. Soon, more beauty shops followed. In 1972 Jackie left his job at Merchants and joined Faye full time buying, building, and managing a beauty salon business that at its peak owned close to 40 shops in Maryland and Virginia and employed nearly 400 people. It was around this time they opened Aaron’s Academy of Beauty in Waldorf, Maryland. Jackie and Faye worked seven days a week tending to their many responsibilities. But, as Faye would often say “I never do anything I don’t want to do.” Over the course of their lives, despite tragedy and the tremendous challenges they faced, Jackie and Faye built a business to be proud of. They created numerous opportunities and touched more lives than anyone could ever count. Together, Jackie and Faye were the dynamic duo. They worked hard and absolutely loved the life they had created for themselves. Faye was tenacious, a core of steel wrapped in kindness and light. She always tried her best and lived for her family. Jackie did all the worrying for both of them and kept Faye safe and warm. As Faye liked to say, “Jackie held the light still while we rushed into life”. On January 7, 2014, Jackie lost Faye to breast cancer. He was devastated by her loss and never recovered. Everything they had amassed meant nothing without his beautiful Faye to share it with. Jackie suffered a massive brain hemorrhage on May 11, 2017 and passed away quickly and painlessly on May 12, 2017. It is such a relief to know they have finally reunited in death and are facing a wondrous eternity together. Jackie was preceded in death by his parents, RT and Clara, all of his siblings: Ruby Mae (Church) Grainger, Maggie (Church) Walker, Bill Church, Bobbie (Church) Keefe, RT (Jr.) Church and Frankie Ruth (Church) Snell, nephew Rodd Snell, and niece Karen (Francine Logan). He is survived by sister-in-law Francis Church and numerous nephews and nieces. Faye was preceded in death by her parents, Hillary and Leona Williams, brother Richard Williams, sister Ellen Williams, and her beloved sister Sharon Ann Williams. Faye is survived by her brother Douglas Charles Williams and his wife Lamai, nephew Richard (Joana) Williams and their son Avery, and niece Diana Williams, as well as numerous Idaho cousins. Jackie and Faye were also survived by their beloved daughter Cathy Church, her partner Cara Korhonen, and Cathy’s bonus children, Gibson and Cooper. Services for Jackie will be held at 11:00 a.m. Friday, June 16, 2017 at Christ Church in Wayside, Maryland. He will be buried next to the love of his life, Faye, in the church cemetery. Following the burial, a joint celebration of life will be held for Jackie and Faye. This open house will be held from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Aaron’s Academy of Beauty at 11690 Dolittle Drive in Waldorf, Maryland. The public is welcome and everyone is encouraged to come and share memories about Jackie (Mr. Church) and Faye (Helen). In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in their names to charities of choice.

Jackie Lee Church

December 6, 1940 - May 12, 2017