Ross asked me if I
would share some memories from Jackies childhood. Melissa shared memories of Jackies adult life. I will
talk about Lisa’s trip to Edmonton (quite a story) and my visit with family
later but for now I wanted to share my memories of Jackie.
I have been asked for copies of my memories so below is what I
shared at the funeral. It includes memories from all of Jackie's siblings.
=============================
On February 26, 1955
Jackie Marlene Leavitt entered this world and the world was a better place
because she was in it. As I spoke with my brothers and sisters I learned that
Jackie was everyone’s favorite sibling. When I think about that I realize that
this is no surprise. Jackie always made you feel like you were the most
important person in the world.
One of my earliest
memories of Jackie was one day when all my older siblings were climbing this
big tree in our front yard. Well it probably wasn’t all that big but I must
have been four or five so it seemed huge to me. I couldn’t reach the lowest
branch so there I was stuck on the ground while my family was all in the tree.
Jackie, being who she was, could see my distress so she came down and boosted me
up to that first branch so I could join everyone else.
Jackie was a natural
mother. As a young girl Jackie loved to sew, cook and play house. All that homemaker
kind of stuff. Mom would always try and divide up the chores so that everyone could
experience a wide range of work but Jackie would always trade jobs with others
so that she could stay in the kitchen rather than do yard work.
When Dixie and Jackie
were little, they used to make clothes for their dolls by cutting out scraps of
fabric. At first they would just tie the clothes onto the dolls but before long
they were using a needle and thread, and by the time Jackie was six or seven
she was using the sewing machine making nice clothes for her dolls. Both Dixie
and Jackie became exceptional seamstresses. They both continued playing with
dolls long after their friends did because they loved sewing clothes for them.
Jackie always wanted to play
with her little dolls and I loved to play with her, but she always wanted to
play house and would get quite upset when I wanted to line them up and shoot
them with my dart gun.
Our farm was at the foot
of a rather large hill and halfway up the hill was an irrigation ditch. Further
up the hill were large sandstone rocks. We all had a ball playing in those rocks.
I thought they were mountains, but they were probably no more than fifteen or twenty
feet tall. On hot summer days we would cool off in the irrigation ditch which
was often more mud than it was water.
Near the bottom of the
hill was an artesian well that continually flowed. In the winter that made a
great skating rink that must have been a mile long.
As long as I’ve been
around, Jackie has always wanted to help people. Some of my earliest memories
are of Jackie taking care of me. She was three years older than me, but I saw
her of more of an alternate mother than a big sister. If I was scared of
something she would comfort me, if I hurt myself she would bandage me up. If I
wanted my mother and she wasn’t around I would go to Jackie. At the time I thought
I was someone special, but I grew to learn that she was this way with everyone.
Jackie made everyone feel like they were special.
Jackie was terrified of thunderstorms.
When she was about five years old a very loud thunderstorm rolled in over the farm
and woke her up. Greg would have been ten at the time so Jackie went into his
room looking for comfort. She told him that she was scared and asked if she
could sleep with him. Greg told her to climb in. Greg tells how they formed a
bond that night. Normally Jackie would much prefer being in the kitchen than
out with the cows but after that night she often helped Greg with his chores.
Jackie loved to do hair
and would often sit and put her sister’s hair up in fancy braids or buns or whatever
it is that girls do with their hair. That was probably a good skill for Jackie
to learn because she ended up with four girls and they have always had beautiful
hair.
I remember one time we
were on a road trip and I was resting my head on Jackie’s lap. She pulled out
her makeup and proceeded to go to work on my face. I wasn’t too thrilled about
the makeup but I loved the attention she gave me. When I finally sat up and put
on my glasses my eyelashes kept brushing on my glasses. I’m not sure how girls
with glasses use mascara.
Jackie’s willingness to spend
time with her little brother continued even into her teenage years. About the
time Jackie was old enough to start dating we had moved into town and our Dad
decided to built a motel in Waterton Park where we spent every summer until we
all left home. I loved Waterton as did our entire family. I had a built in job
every summer and a huge playground.
My sisters, on the other
hand, had an endless supply of boyfriends. It seemed to me that Jackie had a different
date every weekend. Sometimes she had multiple dates on the same day. I
remember one time she rushed into the motel from one date and was panicking
trying to get the boy to leave before the next date showed up. I’m sure this
was a nightmare for my parents but I loved it because Jackie, being who she is,
even involved me on her dates. She let me go on her dates with her. I thought I
was so mature, but it was because my sister loved me. At the time I thought
that was a natural thing for a sister to do but I soon realized that I had an extraordinary
sister.
I’ve wondered if she took
me on these dates because she was trying to get rid of an unwanted boy, but she
would take me on dates with local boys who were longtime friends. I remember
Jackie and some boy eating at Franks Restaurant with Lester and I. There’s Jackie
and her guy in one side of the booth and across the table is me and Lester. What
kind of sister does that?
One of my favorite Jackie
dates was when we would go chasing bears. The boy of the day had a fancy pickup
truck with a huge spotlight that would plug into the cigarette lighter. That
thing could light up the entire mountainside. We would then drive out to the
dump or around the back streets of Waterton and look for bears. When we found
one we would chase it down until it would run up a tree. That is when I learned
that you don’t want to get between a mother bear and her cubs. Instead of
running up a tree they will run towards you. That can be a bit terrifying.
Jackie and her dates would also take us on trips into Waterton backcountry in
highly modified Volkswagen beetles. I can hardly believe that my sister would let
me hang out with her during these wonderful experiences but one thing I knew
without a doubt was that my sister loved me.
One summer a film crew rolled
into town. They were filming a movie called “Pioneer Woman”. The three main
actors were Joanna Pettit, David Jansen and William Shatner. I didn’t know and
I didn’t care who Joanna Pettit and David Jansen were, but I was very excited
about William Shatner. I was a bit of a Trekkie. I might still be a bit of a
Trekkie.
When they film a movie
with big stars, they don’t force the stars to sit around for hours on end while
they get the scene all set up and make sure the lighting is right. They hire a stand-in
to do that. That summer Joanna Pettit needed a stand in. The crew looked around
Waterton for someone who was of similar height and build as Joanna Pettit and they
found Jackie. What a great experience that was for Jackie, but of course,
Jackie, being who she is, made it a wonderful experience for me as well. She
got William Shatners autograph just for me.
Jackie must have become rather
good friends with the film crew and on day Captain Kirk decided that he wanted
a sauna. That was good for me because our motel had the only sauna in town. Jackie
arranged for Kirk to use it and Jackie arranged for me to be there when he came.
I am happy to say that Captain Kirk and I have both used the same sauna, but
not at the same time. I didn’t get to know him that well. Jackie even went on a
date with William Shatner. Well, I say a date but I’m sure it was just that
they had lunch or something like that but to me it was a momentous moment. Jackie
always found a way for those she loved to share in her exciting experiences.
My dad served a mission
in New Zealand and in 1968 the New Zealand missionaries who served from
Southern Alberta had a big reunion. I remember it well and I had a great time, but
the most important thing that happened at that reunion was that my brother Greg
met Gaylia Foote. To make a long story short, Greg and Gaylia ended up getting
married and our two families became good friends. That is why years later when
Gaylia’s sister Diana got married, our family wanted to be there to celebrate
with Diana. The way I heard it though, not everyone in our family really wanted
to go. Jackie figured she had better things to do that night but she finally
gave in when she was told that she could take a friend with her.
At the same time Gaylia’s
Uncle Mel Foote wanted to take his family to celebrate with Diana, but his son Ross
was less than enthusiastic about going. It wasn’t until Mel bribed Ross with
the car that he agreed to go. The reception was in Welling, and Mel told Ross
that if he went he would let him take the car into Raymond for a bit.
When Ross arrived at the reception,
he saw this beautiful girl sitting across the hall. Jackie really was
exceptionally beautiful. For those who know Ross, he is a fairly reserved and
quiet guy, but he really wanted to meet Jackie so he worked up his nerve enough
to walk over to Jackie and ask if she wanted to go drive into Raymond. Jackie
was all for it, she was quite happy to get out of there. So they went and piled
into Ross’s car. You can imagine Ross’s dismay when Jackie’s friend ended up
sitting between him and Jackie. As it turned out, Jackie’s friend also figured
that Ross was a pretty interesting guy and Ross and Jackie spent the evening
trying to sit next to each other.
Despite the temporary
setback, the night must have gone well because Ross set up a date for the next
weekend. Jackie’s friend was not invited. After that first date there was a date
pretty much every weekend right up until Ross left for his mission to Texas.
Ross was quite taken with Jackie and he did his best to get a commitment from
her to wait for him. The best he was able to get was a commitment to write.
Jackie had no intention
of sitting around wasting away waiting for Ross so it wasn’t long before she
returned to her very active dating life. However, things were different now. Of
course, her new love interest started falling hard for Jackie, (who wouldn’t) but
it wasn’t long before she sent him on a mission along with a promise to write.
And then she did it with her next boyfriend and then one more. As best as I can
figure, Jackie sent at least four boyfriends out on missions and she was
writing to them all.
The first few months on
his mission were tough for Ross. He had a difficult time getting Jackie off his
mind and struggled with the desire to come home and marry her. Finally, he
realized that the only way he was going to be able to give his mission the
attention it deserved was to quit writing her. I’ve have heard of many
missionaries who received a Dear John letter, but might be the only missionary
I know who sent his girlfriend a Dear Jane letter. Fortunately for all of us,
Jackie started writing again towards the end of his mission, and the day after
Ross arrived home he drove straight to Waterton. He did stop by the Stake President’s
house on the way to get released from his mission. Jackie didn’t know he was
coming.
By this time we had two
motels in Waterton and Ross arrived at the Windflower while Jackie was working
at the Ponderosa. Dad called down to the Ponderosa and asked Mom to send Jackie
up to the Windflower. Mom told her to go get lunch ready. Ross sat and visited
with Dad while they waited and before long before Jackie comes bouncing into
the living quarters, took one look at Ross and turned around and left. She
figured that what she was wearing was less than appropriate for this return
missionary so she went and changed before she would talk to him. Ross proposed
to Jackie on their second date.
When they were newlyweds Ross and
Jackie lived in a trailer on his father’s farm. I was now old enough to drive
so Lester and I made several trips to Fort McLeod to visit them. They
eventually ended up in Cardston and when Lisa and I came to Cardston to visit
family or to attend the temple we would stay with Jackie and Ross. I always felt
at home with Jackie and Ross and she always made me feel that she was as glad
to have me there. Jackie and Ross have moved a few times since then, but
wherever she has lived I have always felt at home when I was in her home.
It is difficult for me to accept
that Jackie has now moved on, but when I think of her with Mom and Dad I can’t
help but smile. Thank goodness for eternal families.
Jackie’s life as a child and growing
into a woman, was the foundation to a wonderful life that blessed hundreds of
people in much the same way as she blessed her brothers and sisters. To do the
next part of this story justice, I am going to let someone who was there talk
about this chapter of Jackie’s amazing life. I will now turn the time over to
Jackie’s daughter Melissa Sanders.
