Jeannine LaVonne Etter

Jeannine LaVonne Yackle was named after that beautiful song. A song her mama, Hallie, loved. A song that resulted in a lifetime of people outside of their small farm community being unable to say or spell Jeannine’s first name.

One of the best gifts that my parents ever gave me was my middle name – Jeannine. I am Angela Jeannine Johnston, Jeannine’s only granddaughter. I am proud to be my grandmother’s namesake.

Jeannine was born in Otis, Colorado, to Vernon and Hallie Yackle, on October 12, 1935; joining big sister JoAnne.

The following is an excerpt from a Social Living assignment, titled “Daddy’s Little Boy,” by Jeannine Yackle. The early years in Jeannine’s own words. . .

Long, long ago (about 15 years) at the time of the great depression in a little brown house in a little town in the middle of a wind-swept prairie a man and a woman (my parents) had very high hopes. “I just know he will look like you,” they said.

Then I came along. I not only wasn’t Daddy’s little boy, but I didn’t look like anyone either. I was just me.

They tried to make the best of it and so did I. I was just as near to being Daddy’s little boy as anyone could be – if she was a girl, that is.

Boys are always causing trouble, aren’t they? Well, I had to live up to boy standards so I obliged right from the start.

My sister had small pox when I was born – so I just up and caught it too. Well, that broke them in fast.

As I got older (3 months) I just kept giving them something to think about. I got the colic and everything connected with it.

I let up on them and only had scarlet fever before I was 18 months old and then I gave them a good old scare. I had a spasm. I turned purple with green spots, I think. They were sure I was a goner. But I fooled them. I got well – and fat!

That was just one of the differences between my sister and I. She was thin and I was “Mr. 2’ x 2’.” She played with dolls and I played with marbles and boys. I liked to roller skate and she got mad and threw her skates when she fell down. She stayed home and I went everywhere with Daddy. They called me “Daddy’s shadow.”

I didn’t much think about boys until my mama and another lady decided to have a birthday party for this lady’s little boy and me. [We were born on the same day, four years apart. I was six. He was 10.] His name was Marvin Etter. I didn’t know this little boy very well, but I thought he might like to play cops and robbers or something so I guessed it’d be alright. He went to school too so I thought maybe he’d tell me something I didn’t know – but he’d have to be plenty smart to do that.

Well, we had the party and he turned out to be blonde and as little as I was. I kind of liked him, though. But soon after that I started to school and all was forgotten.

Jeannine loved music. She started playing the piano. Jeannine, her sister, and three other girls went to Brush for accordion lessons. They became known locally as the Accordion Kids. Jeannine was proud to play the organ for her sister JoAnne’s wedding. As adults sometimes when Jeannine’s and JoAnne’s families got together they would rock the house with a family jam session.

Six years after that first shared birthday party Marvin and Jeannine officially became a couple. He played football and basketball for Otis High School. She was a cheerleader. Both wore their letter sweaters with pride.

After Marvin graduated from high school, he decided it would be better to join the Air Force than to be drafted. He and Jeannine were engaged before he left for boot camp. When Marvin showed up unexpectedly at Jeannine’s front door a few months later, her father reacted, “What are you doing here?” Marvin had been given two weeks leave in advance of deployment to Korea.

At the suggestion of Jeannine’s mother Hallie, Marvin and Jeannine were married before his deployment. The bride borrowed her sister’s wedding dress. The groom wore his uniform. The ceremony and celebration were held at her parents’ home on March 26, 1952. The couple were married for nine days, then separated for 14 months while Marvin was in East Asia.

Jeannine continued to live with her parents, while she finished high school. She was named Valedictorian of all of Washington County, Colorado, with the highest scholastic average for four years. During her four years at Otis High School, Jeannine participated in Girl Reserves, Band, Chorus, Pep Club, and Speech Club. She was Class Secretary, Class Treasurer, Newspaper Editor, and Yearbook Editor. Jeannine also performed in the all school play, class play, and operetta.

Jeannine worked two jobs – at the movie theater and the grain elevator – while receiving spousal benefits from the Air Force. She saved as much money as she could, while Marvin was away, allowing them to purchase a trailer in which they would live when Marvin returned from Korea.

Marvin finished his Air Force commitment in Texas, where Jeannine joined him. The couple then returned to the Etter farm in Otis. They welcomed their first child, Pamela Jean, on December 26, 1954. Six months later the family moved to Denver, where they purchased a home in Park Hill. Soon after the Etters’ move to the city, Jeannine’s parents decided to follow them. Hallie and Vernon then lived just a few blocks from the Etters. Hallie provided daycare for Pamie, while Jeannine worked as a bookkeeper at Wesco Fabrics and Marvin served as an aircraft mechanic for the Colorado Air National Guard.

On February 12, 1963, Jeannine and Marvin welcomed baby #2. Marvin called Pamie at Grandma’s house, announcing “It’s a girl. What are you going to name her?” Without hesitation Pamie responded, “Tammy.” The Debbie Reynolds “Tammy” movies and song were a big hit at the time, and Tammy rhymed with Pamie. Seemed logical to 8-year-old Pamie. Jeannine and Marvin named the baby Tamara Jo.

That summer the Etters moved to Aurora, closer to Buckley where Marvin worked. Soon after, Hallie and Vernon followed, building a home within blocks of Jeannine and Marvin’s home. A few years after that Jeannine’s sister JoAnne and her family moved to the same neighborhood. With Hallie and Vernon, Jeannine and Marvin, and JoAnne and Howard and the kids all living within a six blocks area it was like having their own small town on the edge of the city.

On Pam’s 13th birthday Jeannine started as an accountant at The Record Stockman, a publication for cattlemen. Over the next 30 years she would experience the growth and demise of a media company. Publisher Harry Green built Sentinel Newspapers, a chain of suburban newspapers throughout the Denver-metro area. The chain was subsequently purchased by The Minneapolis Star and Tribune. When print media began to decline in popularity, Jeannine was the employee designated to lock the doors of Sentinel Newspapers for the last time.

Jeannine was like a mother bear, protecting her cubs. NO ONE was allowed to threaten or harm her children or anyone else’s. When Tami was in elementary school, the gymnasium installed new climbing ropes. To extend the ropes’ lifespan the gym teacher decided students would climb barefoot. A rope burn ripped the skin off the top of Tami’s foot. Jeannine confronted the gym teacher without satisfaction. She went to the principal without the desired result. Her crusade took her to the Superintendent and School Board, where they agreed with Jeannine. Going forward students would wear both socks and shoes, when climbing the ropes.

Pam and Tami have many fond memories of Saturdays with Mama. Jeannine’s days off were Saturday and Sunday; Marvin’s were Sunday and Monday. Saturdays, while MOE was working, were SHOPPING DAYS. Sometimes they would shop downtown Aurora, other times they would go to downtown Denver. The evolution of indoor malls launched them on expeditions past miles of open fields from Aurora to Cinderella City. The drive home was always the same – Pam and Tami sitting in the backseat, rattling bags as they reviewed their Saturday haul.

“Spontaneous” comes to mind when thinking about Jeannine. Pamie went to bed one evening excited that they were going to Glenwood Springs for the weekend. The next morning they drove to the airport and flew to LA and a Dodgers game instead. When a water fight spontaneously broke out on the front lawn between Marvin and the kids, Jeannine was laughing and refereeing the action from within the safety of the kitchen. Then Marvin sprayed her with water, soaking her through the open kitchen window. Jeannine came roaring out the front door to join the water fight.

Jeannine excelled at communicating through hand gestures – a skill she taught her children and grandchildren. One day coming out of a parking lot Jeannine annoyed another driver, who honked at her. Then, honked a second time. Jeannine instructed Tami to “flip him off.” Tami’s response, “I already did.” Having a five-year-old give you the middle finger, probably prompted the second honk. Thumbing their noses at each other was a shared sport between Jeannine and others. There is photographic proof that Jeannine’s hand gestures continued throughout her life. Grandson Tony has a collection of these photos, because he had a knack for soliciting this type of response from Grandma.

Not only am I Jeannine’s only granddaughter, I was her first grandchild. My childhood is filled with memories of my grandmother. Never letting her live down, burned grilled cheese sandwiches when she babysat me. Laughing that I flirted with a shoe salesman when I was a toddler, sitting on her lap. She could never convince the guy that the sexy ‘Hi!” was the baby, not her. From reading romance novels, watching soap operas, and occasionally flipping off crazy drivers while we were driving through Aurora in her Buick Riviera; there was never a dull moment when my grandmother was in charge of me as a child. Our bond continued to grow as I got older. Even in the final months, when my grandmother’s memory and her words were gone, we still had a special connection when I would visit her.

Grandson Taylor also shared inside jokes with Grandma. Cinnamon rolls were on the menu the mornings after Taylor spent the night with Grandma. Jeannine liked to tell the story that every time they made cinnamon rolls, Taylor would caution her, “don’t waste the icing Grandma.” The lunch menu included two separate slices of bread – one smeared with peanut butter, the second with Miracle Whip. During one visit to the farm, Taylor got an early education on where babies come from when a cow dropped a calf right in front of him. There was never a dull moment with Grandma.

When they retired, Jeannine and Marvin spent six months of each year in Arizona, splitting the balance of their time between their condo in Denver, the farm in Otis, and traveling in their motorhome. The longest road trip was from Nova Scotia to Florida, as part of a caravan of motorhomes filled with beloved cousins – Clinton and Helen Etter and Paul and Betty Hart.

Tami and Jeannine joined a women’s Fantasy Football League before that became mainstream. Jeannine was the league secretary, who used the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News to do the weekly statistics by hand. When the family decided to start its own Fantasy Football League she not only had her own team, but served as League Commissioner. To this day the family looks forward to the annual draft.

Family, immediate and extended, was important to Jeannine. Her mother was one of 10 children, her father one of four; resulting in a host of aunts, uncles, and cousins. For decades Hallie’s Sutton family held annual picnics with tables laden with homemade goodies, softball, croquet, and lazy afternoons napping in the shade. Marvin’s family expanded the number of siblings, nieces, and nephews. The Etter Family reunions had them traveling to Oregon and South Dakota and helping host the group several times in Colorado.

Jeannine and Marvin’s families extended beyond blood. There was the Air Force Family – friends they made while Marvin was in the Air Force. There was the Wheeling Family – the friends and neighbors where they raised their children. The Otis Family included those individuals with whom they had grown up and those that supported them in their retirement. The Arizona Family included neighbors and friends from their annual Arizona sojourn. There was the Buckley Family – the men prepared to defend our country at a moment’s notice and the women who banded together to hold down the home front. Grandson Tommy followed in Grandpa’s shoes. He is currently a member of the Colorado Air National Guard.

And last, but not least – the Sunrise Family – the compassionate caregivers who have cared for Jeannine for the last four and a half years. We are grateful for the love they extended to Jeannine and her family throughout her time at Sunrise. Thank you.

Jeannine and Marvin were together for 80 years after that first joint birthday party. They celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary shortly before Marvin passed away on April 11, 2022.

As Jeannine’s memory slipped away, she may not have known who she was visiting with, but she always knew that we were someone who loved her very much. My favorite times would be getting a glimpse of recollection from her with a thumb of the nose, or a shimmy of the shoulders. And her eyes always sparkled when her visitor gave her a strawberry shake or chocolate treat to enjoy.

We love you Grandma. Your legacy lives on in all who knew you. We will miss your Million Dollar smile.

Jeannine died on June 25, 2023, at the age of 87. She is preceded in death by her husband – Marvin Etter, her parents – Vernon and Hallie Yackle, and her sister and brother-in-law – JoAnne and Howard Hansen. She is survived by her children – Pamela and Joe Drennan and Tamara and Thomas Accardi; grandchildren – Thomas and Rebecca Accardi, Angela and Aaron Johnston, Anthony and Elle Accardi, and Taylor Accardi and his fiancé Ashley Yalacki; and great grandchildren – Dylan and Connor Johnston, Benjamin Accardi, Johanna Myers, Gabriella Daly, and Teresa and Gianna Accardi.