Jacqueline Rae Charter of Wellfleet died on Feb. 12, 2023 at Cape Regency Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in Centerville. In the days before her death, her son, Chad, and daughter-in-law, Rumi, were by her side as she struggled with advanced Alzheimer’s disease. She was 77.
The daughter of Wesley and Alice Charter, Jacquie was born on Sept. 4, 1945 in Concord. She was raised in Littleton, riding horses and playing with animals at neighboring Durkey Farm with her sister Weslynn.
Jacquie’s lifelong engagement with art was inspired by her mother, a talented amateur painter. Chad said his grandmother looked for the animal shapes that lurked in the outlines and textures of beach rocks. “The shapes,” he said, “spoke to her.”
After graduating from Littleton High School in 1963, Jacquie attended the Art Institute of Boston, then worked in a small newspaper office in Boston doing page design.
In August 1969, Jacquie and her childhood friend Nancy Wood made plans to attend the Woodstock festival. On the way, they ditched their plan and drove to the Outer Cape instead. After that trip, Jacquie came to the Cape each summer, sometimes working as a parking attendant at Wellfleet’s town beaches.
By 1973 Jacquie had decided to make Wellfleet her home — the same year that Randy Williams bought the Simeon Atwood building on Commercial Street. Jacquie and Randy met a few years later and decided to navigate the world together. “He needed someone to cook for him,” said Chad, “and she needed someone to cook for.”
Jacquie set up a small shop called C-Shirts at the back of the Atwood building, selling hand-painted T-shirts. She also painted seashells on offer.
Jacquie’s work in various media, from clay to beads, wood, fabrics, and found objects in nature, drew inspiration from animals and sea life. She made lambs out of clam shells, which she called “clambs,” and mice out of mussel shells, which she called “mousels.”
In addition, she made narrative wooden mirror frames depicting scenes from Aesop’s Fables; she painted clocks and boxes, teasing out an animal form or a narrative from the textures of the objects.
Jacquie honed her cooking skills at the Morning Star Café, which she and a friend had established on Deer Isle in Maine. For years she worked alongside her son at their restaurant, The Juice, which Chad established in the Atwood building in 2002. Jacquie was the chief prep cook and primary soup maker; seafood chowder in winter and cucumber dill soup in summer were two specialties. She was also known for her stuffed quahogs, cakes, and pies, especially her key-lime pie.
Jacquie loved animals, the majestic miniature dachshund in particular, which played a large part in her family life. She had several dachshunds as a child, and when the time seemed right, she gave Chad a black-and-tan dachshund named Lupin. In 2006, as Chad prepared to leave home for college, he gave her a dachshund named Alice.
She loved to travel with her son and partner to Anguilla in the Caribbean, where she found inspiration for her artwork in the subtle palette of turquoise waters. The variations of blue inspired her beadwork.
Jacquie is survived by her partner, Randy Williams of Wellfleet; her son, Chad Williams of Wellfleet and New York City, his wife, Rumi, and their daughter, Lily; her nephews — who she loved as her own children — Wesley Wilson of Louisville, Ky., Gary Wilson of Littleton, and Thomas Gosson of Leominster, and their families, children, and grandchildren.
Donations in Jacquie’s memory can be made to the Alzheimer’s Family Support Center of Cape Cod: alzfamilysupport.org.
A private memorial will take place on May 21 in Wellfleet.
