Matilda Burns, 92, grandmother of Rev. Jesse Jackson, succumbs

Jet, March 17, 1997

Matilda Burns, the maternal grandmother of the Rev. Jesse Jackson who helped to raise him as a child, recently died after a lengthy illness at a Greenville, SC, nursing home. She was 92.

"Grandma is the matriarch," said Jackson in a statement. "She was the glue that held us together. She worked two jobs to help sustain our family. She was the strength and major motivation to help us pursue our dreams."

Though Burns never learned to read or write, she stressed the importance and value of education.

"Because she was born in a big family, was sickly and poor, she never went to school a day in her life," Jackson told the Chicago Defender, "but she placed great value on education."

He added, "When our first daughter, Santita, was born, she took out a 15 cents a week education policy. Although she was never able to attend college, she was able to see her educational investments pay off in her lifetime."

Burns is survived by her daughter, Helen, Jackson's mother; two grandsons, Rev. Jesse Jackson and Charles Jackson; 10 great-grand-children; and one great-great-grandchild.