In Memory: Rose Crystal Jackson Polatty, A True "Daughter of Roswell"

Editor’s note: the following obituary was submitted by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.

---

Rose Crystal Jackson Polatty died November 30, 2015, at home on Mimosa Boulevard in Roswell, Georgia, the street of her birthplace. She was preceded in death by her husband, George J. Polatty, Sr. in 2003.

September 17, 1922, marked the birth arrival of Rose Crystal Jackson to Roswell. Her maternal Sweeny family were wagon-train Colorado pioneers. Her paternal Jackson family were South Carolina cotton farmers and cotton mill operators dating back to the 17th century. Her father, James Wilmot Jackson, operated the Roswell Mills and her mother, Esther Sweeny Jackson, was Roswell’s beloved educator of three generations of children.

Rose was valedictorian of the Class of 1939 of Milton High School. Rose was the Atlanta Journal Cup recipient at Milton. Rose won the state-wide competition for the Best Essay on the importance of the signing of the U.S. Constitution by the state of Georgia in Augusta, Georgia, on the 150th anniversary of the signing.

Rose was a journalism major, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Georgia, and gave the university a lifetime of service. Rose served as President, Class of 1943 Alumni, Board Manager of the UGA Alumni Society, Vice-President of the Alumni Society, and Chairwoman and Moderator of seminars on world policies including Secretary of State of the United States and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the military.

Rose was Executive Secretary of the Atlanta Boy Choir and was widely credited with helping to save the tenure of Robert Shaw at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra by her impassioned letters to the Atlanta newspapers and the Symphony Board explaining the importance of such a master to the Symphony and the City. She also served on the Board of Directors of the Atlanta Arts Council and Georgia Conservancy, and was a charter member of the High Museum of Art and a charter member of PEO Chapter AA Georgia.

Rose was a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, Daughters of the American Revolution and Colonial Dames 17th Century.

Roswell was her home and she was a charter member and President of the Roswell Woman’s Club, charter member and President of the Roswell Garden Club, charter member and President of the North Fulton Council of Garden Clubs, and lifetime member of the Garden Club of Georgia. She also was Bicentennial Chairman, City of Roswell, Chairman of the Altar Guild RUMC, charter member of the Roswell Historical Society, and Chairman of the Historic Preservation Commission of Roswell. She was truly a daughter of Roswell.

Rose is survived by son, George Junius Polatty, Jr., Robert Wilmot Polatty, and Richard James Polatty, daughter Rose Crystal Polatty, and son-in-law, Michael Scott. She is also survived by grandchildren, Esther Jackson Polatty, Richard Alexander Scott, Whitney Allison Scott, and Katherine Degel. Also surviving are great-grandchildren, Carlene Faith Buckner and Emily Grace Zimmerman and nieces and nephews.

Services will be held at Roswell United Methodist Church where Mrs. Polatty will lie in state from 1 P.M. to 2 P.M. The funeral service will begin at 2 P.M.

Interment will be in the historic section of the Graniteville, South Carolina Cemetery where five generations of both Mr. and Mrs. Polatty’s families are buried.

The double tombstone installed in Graniteville by Rose and her husband of 61 years bears this inscription from Psalms 118:14 “The Lord is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.”

---

Image via Shutterstock