If you would like to post an obituary of a San Dieguito alumnus, please let us know.
March 9, 1928 – April 1984
Former state representative and retired Marine Corps Maj. Barry Wendell Jackson, Esq., age 88, died July 31, 2018, at the Pioneers Home.
He is survived by Susan Jackson (San Diego); children, Stacy Johnson, Sydney Seay, Leslie Gartman, Morgan Reece and Bruce Jackson; 17 grandchildren; brother, Bruce Jackson; sister, Gail Jackson; and many others.
Known for his work with the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, his greatest honor was receiving God’s free gift of salvation on his deathbed through faith in Jesus Christ.
A memorial service will be held at 7 p.m. Aug. 23 at Bible Baptist Church in Fairbanks. Interment in San Diego.
Kay Grant, 72 gave up her career as child actor
One of Kay M. Grant’s early childhood playgrounds was a stage.
By age 3, she was learning to sing and dance in her native Los Angeles, where she performed with Shirley Temple and other would-be stars in the Meglin Kiddies show business workshop.
But after she had a prominent role in the 1936 movie “The Irish Gringo,” her father demanded that she turn down additional Hollywood offers. “He felt that she would grow up too fast,” said her son, Keith Grant.
Mrs. Grant, who later became a professional photographer and corporate secretary in North County, died June 3 at her home in Ammon, Idaho. She was 72.
The cause of death was complications from lung cancer, which was diagnosed three months ago, her son said.
About 1940, Mrs. Grant moved with her family from Los Angeles to Encinitas, where her father opened Keith’s service station overlooking Moonlight Beach.
She appeared in theatrical productions at San Dieguito High School and took photos for the school annual in her senior year, 1946. Because of the school’s limited postwar budget, she and fellow students had to raise funds to publish the yearbook by sponsoring events, her son said.
Although Mrs. Grant acted for a while in North County community theater productions, her stage career was over by the 1950s. Wherever she moved, though, her Hollywood memorabilia went with her.
“When she died she had two trunks full of old photos and original scripts,” her son said.
In performing with the Meglin Kiddies, Mrs. Grant followed in the footsteps of such child stars as Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney and Ann Miller.
She also performed as a child with George White’s Scandals, which staged musical revues.
Using her stage name, Karlyn May, Mrs. Grant made her lone movie appearance in the western “The Irish Gringo.” She was cast as a little girl found wandering in the desert by a half-Mexican, half-Irishman and his gang of gunmen.
According to the script, the girl was being pursued by outlaws because of the map she bore on her shirt of the Lost Dutchman mine.
After graduating from San Dieguito High, Mrs. Grant studied photography at Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara.
In the early 1950s, she opened a photography studio in Del Mar, specializing in portraits and wedding pictures. After marrying Ed Brooks, she left the photography business to join him in operating a hunting camp in Eureka. The marriage ended in divorce after about three years, and Mrs. Grant returned to North County to work as a corporate secretary.
She began her secretarial career at a Del Mar architectural firm, then joined Dyna Med Inc., a subsidiary of Dyna Industries specializing in emergency medical care products.
In 1962, Mrs. Grant married Jack Grant, who died in 1986. She retired from Dyna Med in the late 1980s and moved to the Carmel area, where she became active with the local chapter of the American Red Cross.
In 1993, she moved to the Idaho Falls area to be near her son and his family and continued her work with the Red Cross.
Survivors include her son, Keith of Idaho Falls, and three grandchildren.
A celebration of life is scheduled for 11 a.m. July 6 at Calvary Chapel North Coast, Carlsbad. Burial will be at Eternal Hills Memorial Park, Oceanside.
Donations are suggested to Hospice of Eastern Idaho, 703 John Adams Parkway, Idaho Falls, ID 83401.
by Jack Williams, San Diego Union-Tribune, June 29, 2001
Please note: school yearbooks list Kay Keith as from the class of 1947.