Sallie Ritter Jacobs

Sallie Ritter Jacobs, a fifth-generation New Mexican, was born in Las Cruces in 1947. She passed away serenely on March 27, 2026 in Mesilla Valley Hospice. She is survived by her husband, Kent F. Jacobs, MD, and his sister, Maryce Jacobs, PhD, her sister, Terri Finley & her husband, Dan Finley and her children, Ryan Beavers, wife Holly Beavers & Megan Hayes, her husband, Brian Hayes, and their children, Jaxon John and Alex Jo.  Sallie loved and appreciated her caretakers Silveria & Edgar Chavez, and the family extends a heartfelt thank you to them both. Sallie is also survived by over 100 magnificent rose bushes and 150 daffodils and tulips that bloom in all the favorite hues of her palate. She also leaves a darling puppy, Pepper. She had been married to dear Kent for 55 years, a truly loving husband, who never told her no, and never needed to.  An aspiring artist from an early age, Sallie sold her first drawing at just eleven years old—a sign of the creative life she would continue to build for decades to come. Her artistic studies took her abroad, beginning with the College of Art History at the University of Rome, Italy in 1965, followed by classical training at the Edinburgh College of Art & School of Drawing and Painting, Edinburgh, Scotland from 1967-1968. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1969. 

Sallie often reflected that the essence of the light touching her surroundings shaped her work. Her Scottish-period oil paintings captured the overcast skies and intimate compressed character of Edinburgh. Upon returning to her home state of New Mexico and their home in the Rio Grande Valley, where she resided for the next 57 years, her Southwestern paintings reflected the wide-open landscapes and brilliant hues for which she is primarily known. She was able to intimately embrace the translucent quality of light flowing through clouds…..radiating, luminous & incandescent. She will be remembered not only for her artistic talents and accomplishments, but also for her vibrant love of life, intelligence, and fun sense of humor. Her life truly reflected a genuine appreciation for nature’s beauty through a close connection with the natural world.

Sallie’s work has been featured in more than twenty solo exhibitions and is held in the permanent collections of the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC and the New Mexico Museum of Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She served on the Board of Directors of the Women’s Board of the Museum of New Mexico, the Doña Ana Arts Council in Las Cruces, and the Southwest and Border Cultures Institute. Sallie was a member of the National Museum of Women in the Arts. She is listed in Marquis Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who of American Women, and Who’s Who in the World. In 2014, Sallie and Dr. Kent Jacobs received the New Mexico Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts as Major Contributors to the Arts.

She expressed her vibrant energy and sensitivity through a genuine perception for nature’s beauty and a close connection with the natural world. Sallie and her husband Kent traveled the world extensively, collecting memories, stories, and art. She was also known as an elegant hostess, and she had a graceful gift for entertaining dear friends in both of their homes in Ruidoso and Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Sallie and Kent have bequeathed their art collection to the New Mexico Museum of Art. A private family memorial service will be held at St. James Episcopal Church. 

Memorial gifts may be sent to St. James Episcopal Church @ PO Box 2477, Mesilla Park, NM 88047.