Jacqueline Estelle Perkins

A life lived beautifully for family and friends … built on kindness, generosity and, most importantly, unwavering faith.

Jacqueline (Jackie) Estelle Bredberg was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on May 13, 1936. Jackie was an intelligent, kind, thoughtful and Godly woman who always made time for others, was blessed with an infectious smile that would light up a room, possessed an enviable sense of style, and had a loving heart that touched everyone who was fortunate enough to know her.

Jackie, her younger brother Will and her parents moved west to Pacific Palisades in the 1940s … and Jackie never left her beloved “small town by the sea.”

In her youth, Jackie was an exquisite figure skater, competing successfully at the state and national levels. Unfortunately, at the height of her career, she was in a car accident on her way to compete in the U.S. Nationals.

However, despite a severely injured back, she still competed successfully and secured a spot on the U.S. Figure Skating team to compete in the World Championships in Europe. When doctors later advised that continuing to skate with her injury could leave her permanently disabled, Jackie pulled out of the Championships and retired from competitive skating.

Jackie then went on to attend Santa Monica College where she competed on the high-dive team, was elected homecoming queen and met the man who would later become her husband, Robert (Bob) Perkins. Both she and Bob later transferred to UCLA to complete their degrees. While in college, Jackie attended a Billy Graham Crusade and accepted Christ as her Savior; Jackie’s faith in Jesus would become the most important and defining attribute of her life.

After their marriage in 1961, Jackie and Bob purchased their first home together in Pacific Palisades where they began to raise their two children: Robert (Rob) and Laura. The young family eventually moved to their new and final home in the Huntington Palisades, where Jackie lived for the next 50-plus years.

Jackie later turned her innate athleticism toward a passion for golf … keeping her beautiful swing well into her 80s. Jackie steadfastly supported her church (Calvary) for over 55 years. She enthusiastically taught AWANAS every Wednesday night and loved being a “camp counselor” at several youth group summer camps attended by her grandchildren. She was a dedicated and respected leader of Community Bible Study for over 35 years, faithfully shepherding the women in her groups and making lifelong friends.

Jackie was also very active in various charities such as the National Charity League, Ticktockers (with Laura) and the Venice Bible Tabernacle. Closest to her heart, though, was always the children of ThinSpace Africa, the ministry her brother, Will, founded in Uganda. Jackie adventurously went on many mission trips to Uganda, where a piece of her heart will always remain.

Jackie was predeceased by her husbands: Bob Perkins, Bill Williams and Bob Draine. She leaves behind her brother, Will, her two children, Rob and Laura (Brittain), their spouses Mitali and David, and her beloved three sets of twin grandchildren: Tim and Jim, Julia and Graham, and Ava and Pierce.

Jackie’s life was an amazing and beautiful tapestry—daughter, sister, mother, grandmother, athlete, leader, philanthropist, friend and devoted woman of faith. Although she will be deeply missed, all of us who knew and loved her are forever blessed because of Jackie.

A Celebration of Life will be held on February 17.