Jacquelyn “Jacquie” Thye Sleeper was born Jacquelyn Gwen Mueller on October 4, 1940 in Portland, Oregon to Lowell and M. Caroline (Schirmer) Mueller, and passed away after a short illness in Round Rock, Texas on October 14, 2021, at the age of 81. She will be remembered for her love of family, creativity, and lifelong interest in learning about new cultures.
Jacquie was a 1957 graduate of Jefferson High School, and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Far Eastern Studies with an emphasis on Russian from the University of Oregon, having also attended Portland State University for some of her credits. After graduation, she entered the real estate field and also obtained her broker’s license. She eventually owned her own business, Terra Pacific NW, and also worked as a legal assistant and consular assistant for the law firm of Gray Cary in San Diego, California, before retiring in 2002 a few years after a serious accident.
On February 14, 1961, Jacquie married Gary Anthony Thye in Portland, and to that union were born her son Keirsten in 1961 and daughter Meegan in 1968. After the marriage ended, she met Jerry Sleeper in Lake Oswego, Oregon in 1977. They later moved to San Diego and married on October 15, 1996 in Las Vegas. In 2019, they moved to Round Rock, Texas to be closer to extended family.
Jacquie was a prize-winning photographer and exhibited her photographs (as the “Unique Eye of Jacquie Thye”) in many places around the country, as well as having been featured in several publications over the years. Her family members also treasure the annual photo calendars she created, and she always took the time to customize them for each recipient. She was a founding director of the Carlsbad, California Sister City Ambassadors, and spent many hours of her time volunteering with their committees. Jacquie enjoyed playing tennis when younger, and was an avid contract bridge player all her life. She collected spoons from her travels all over the world, having visited Europe (including her ancestral locations in Germany and Norway), the Far East, and North Africa, among other places, always taking photos and creating diary entries documenting those adventures. She also photographed ships and lighthouses, and enjoyed collecting items related to those interests.
Jacquie was preceded in death by her only sibling, Lowell Mueller, Jr and by a stepson, David Sleeper.
She leaves to cherish her memory her husband of 25 years, Jerry Sleeper, children Keirsten Thye and partner Robin Bachman and Meegan Thye and partner Richard Warner, and by a grandson, Justin Thye Walker. On the Sleeper side of Jacquie’s family, she will be missed by Jerry’s daughters Robyn Barde and husband Larry and Rebecca Manion and husband Joe; by grandchildren Jacob Barde, Nathan Barde, Jesyca Matimore, Rachel Vyoral, Trevor Manion, Mariah Seper, and Tim Manion; and by 12 great-grandchildren.
Jacquie will be laid to rest with her parents and brother at Skyline Memorial Gardens in Portland, Oregon, with a memorial service to be scheduled for Spring 2022.
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