Memories of Jackie

Last week on Wednesday, March 24^th I dropped Lisa off at the airport to go say goodbye to her mother in Edmonton and then I headed north to go say goodbye to my sister. Since I was going to be alone, Brandon decided to fly out to be with me. Greg & Gaylia and Dixie & Mark were also able to make it. It was wonderful to see family and the whole experience was therapeutic for me. I arrived home late this afternoon.

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.  

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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.