Jackson was born in Brewer, Maine, USA, on 31 October 1913, to parents Roy Wellington Barstow (1882–1958) and Lula Maddox (1890–1943). She had at least four siblings: Helen Marie Whitehouse (1912–2001), Virginia Derby (1918–2008), Roy Wellington Barstow (1920–1990), and Franklin Irving Barstow (1925–1999).

In 1942, she married Donald Harry Jackson (1919-1970), and the couple had at least three children.

Jackson died in Bourne, Massachusetts, USA, on 29 December 2023 at the age 110 years, 59 days.