Taking to the Air for a Brief Time

Larry Jamison enjoyed many adventures in his life. After he graduated from Billy Mitchell High School in Colorado Springs, CO in 1966, he took flying lessons. His "pilot satchel" has been stored in our home all these years. Tonight I took inventory of its contents, which revealed mostly maps and instruction books. 

This is the plane that he flew for his solo flight.  

Among Larry's notes from his instruction, I found these two profound gems: "Don't let the plane fly you, you fly it!" and "Don't try to be a test pilot in a light plane!!" Pretty good advice, I think! 

Larry's "Jenna" Goes Home

Another BLESSING in this journey of life after death occurred this morning. Since my husband's death on Nov. 13, 2018, his pickup, whom he lovingly named "Jenna" after his beloved German Shepherd of the 1980s, has been parked in my driveway. I've washed it and had repairs done to it, and left her sitting with a full tank of gas. She has become a symbol to me of her owner. Larry spent time in that truck every single day of the week. If he didn't have an appointment or an errand to run, he created something to do so he could drive off in Jenna each morning and make his day productive and he could feel fulfilled in his retirement.

As I returned home from work each day, whether it be the lunch hour, or quitting time at 4 pm, as I turned the corner of 7th and Griffin in Canon City, I'd look to see if Larry was home, by noticing his pickup in the driveway. So over time that pickup became "Larry" in my mind. Yes, Larry was home.

But today, Larry has gone to a new home in the form of his beloved pickup Jenna. Our oldest granddaughter Brenna, has purchased Jenna and is very excited about taking her home. She and her sister Raichael flew to Colorado last night and have rescued Jenna from the boredom of being parked in my driveway. New adventures await Brenna and Jenna in the great northwest of Gresham, Oregon. 

I know Larry is traveling with them in Spirit. He's thrilled to be spending the next few days enroute with his treasured and deeply loved granddaughters and he'll keep them safe, and most certainly very entertained along the way. Goodbye, dear Jenna. And to Brenna and Raichael, this Grandma looks forward to seeing you again in July. 

A Very Devoted and Loving Father

As a confident extrovert, Larry Jamison exhibited a countenance of FUN, happiness, sociability, and a good nature. And those who were fortunate to know him personally would attest that he was a man who loved deeply. He was very devoted to his grandparents "Mammaw and Pappap Roberts" when they were alive, adored his big brother and "sister" Dick and Linda Jamison and parents Dick and Irene Jamison, and allowed no one to speak ill of them ever. He deeply cherished me, his wife Becky, and looked forward to spending Eternity with me, and more than anything loved and adored his six children. I will share selected photos of Larry, the devoted Dad in this blog post.  

From 1985 we see Larry's children: back left Aaron, back right Jeremy, front left to right Rachael, Ruth, Becky, and Matthew.

From 1978 or so, Larry's at the Royal Gorge Bridge with 

l to r: Aaron, Jeremy, Rachael, and Becky. 

Larry proudly escorted his oldest daughter Becky to a 

"Father-Daughter" church dance. 

Larry took his kids outdoors for camping, riding, hiking or anything else he could think of, to spend time with them and share his love for the outdoors. Here he's with Becky, Aaron, Jeremy 
and Rachael about 1978.

As the proud escort of daughter Rachael, Larry signs the guest book at the wedding of his nephew and bride, Scott and Lisa Jamison, seen below.

Larry with his new baby Ruth Mattie Jamison in 1984. 

Larry and oldest daughter Becky in flight.

 

In 1983 with his youngest son Matthew Jamison. 

On a hike with son Jeremy.

Larry's enjoying touring at Hill AFB in Utah with his 

retired pilot father, Lt. Col. L. R. Jamison 

and his youngest son Matthew in 1991. 

Sharing the Pilot's Treasured Cabin Bag

This 1950s "satchel" held 354 pages of Air Force papers that belonged to my husband's father, Lt. Col. L. R. Jamison, who served in the United States Air Force 1939-1959. 

It's been safely tucked away in our closet for the 24 years that Larry Jamison and I were married. I resurrected it after my husband's November 13th death and scanned the contents. I also printed hard copies of each page and have assembled a 3 ring binder with those pages. 

In fact, I've prepared, in the past week, 8 binders so I can offer one to each of his children and one to his half-brother. I have a copied binder, as well as the original, treasured keepsake. 

When I hold it and explore the contents, I truly feel like I'm holding the hand of my father-in-law. And at the same time, giving him a tight hug out of the pride and respect that I hold for him. 

Our Years at RootsTech for Fun and Family

In true Larry Jamison fashion, he's having fun with DearMyrtle in the Expo Hall of the 2012 RootsTech Conference.

In February 2011, on my computer, I watched the opening session of the first RootsTech genealogy conference in Salt Lake City. I had no idea what to expect and hadn't given any thought to attending in person. But I was interested in learning, so I tuned in. I half expected an elderly gentleman to be standing at a podium in a seminar room, greeting the attendees with a calm "Hello, everyone! We're so glad you could be here today." Instead, as it began, I witnessed the lights being lowered on the stage in a huge convention hall as the sound was turned up to concert level and an excited, enthusiastic gentleman said in a booming voice "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!!!"  I was hooked! This was like a rock concert. There were young people in attendance, thousands of them! Was this the new face of family history? I knew within the first 5 minutes of the opening welcome that we'd be going to RootsTech in 2012.
  

I'm sharing pictures of my husband's involvement in the RootsTech conferences we attended through 2018. It was Larry Jamison who got me interested in researching my family's history. I resisted for 6 years, almost defiantly refusing to consider even discussing the topic, for personal reasons. But he persisted and aided and baited and..... Both my step-mother Phyllis Jones Margheim and father-in-law Lt. Col. L. R. Jamison passed away in 1997. My father moved here to Canon City in 1998 to be close to us and benefit from having family near. With Dad's encouragement, I decided to print a pedigree chart for my son so I installed Dad's unused gift copy of Family Tree Maker on my computer and filled in the blanks for the first 4 generations of my son's pedigree. But I noticed each page asked for the names of the parents, and when I didn't know them anymore, I was challenged to continue researching. And again I was hooked!   

This photo above has such special meaning to me. Larry is standing beside Janet, one of the housekeepers employed in the Salt Palace. It was within Larry's heart to always notice those who don't draw the attention of the crowd and to do something to help them feel special. Larry visited with Janet in the Expo Hall and showed true interest in her personally. He was complimentary of the good work she'd done and thanked her for her service to the convention attendees. And Larry did this for Janet each of the 7 years we attended the conference, as future photos will attest.

In 2013 Larry and I again made the trip to Salt Lake City to attend RootsTech, and to visit his brother and family, who were residents there too.  

Larry's again "visiting" and having fun with DearMyrtle in the Expo Hall in Feb. 2013.

Larry is "looking up to" Dennis Brimhall, CEO of Family Search, Int'l at the 2013 RootsTech, after Dennis delivered the opening Keynote address to the thousands of attendees. Larry never knew a stranger!

In 2014 we were blessed with the company of Larry's brother and sister-in-law Dick and Linda Jamison who attended the evening concerts with us. This picture is precious to us since Dick passed away in Sept 2017 and Larry passed away in November 2018. 

Larry would pose with anyone! I can't remember the name of this character who was on staff at the Conference, but Larry found it an opportunity to have FUN!

And Larry had to make a stop at the Studio C booth in the Expo Hall and grab a pair of the glasses they were giving away. 

Here he's proudly wearing his Studio C glasses and acting silly while waiting for one of the Keynote addresses to be delivered. 

The scooter Larry used for transportation was a Godsend for several years. Larry experienced 4 major surgeries in 5 years, so felt a lot of pain from shoulders to back and hips. This scooter got him from the Radisson Hotel to the Salt Palace and all through the halls of the conference for 6 days each year that we attended. 

Larry proudly poses again in 2015 with our friend Janet, of Salt Palace Housekeeping. 

Larry was thrilled to meet and pose with Mary Tedesco, above, and Kenyatta Berry, below, hosts of the popular TV program "Genealogy Roadshow". 

Here's the story behind this photo! As we flew on Delta airlines from Colorado Springs to Salt Lake City, Larry noticed his wallet was missing from his pocket when he got up to go to the restroom. That's NOT what I wanted to hear during our travels. Traveling with Larry was not easy. As we looked around his airline seat, a very nice lady seated behind him delivered his wallet, which had fallen out of his pocket onto the floor and was UNDER his seat. When we arrived in Salt Lake City, Larry asked our sister-in-law Linda to take him to a store to buy a cord to attach his wallet to his belt loop so that wouldn't happen again. That's the way Larry carried his wallet in his pocket for the duration of his life!  

In 2016 with our friend Denise Levenick, the Family Curator from California. 

Larry meets up again with our friend Pat Richley-Erickson, "Dear Myrtle".

And of course, no RootsTech Conference would be complete without an opportunity to visit with our friend Janet, of the Salt Palace Housekeeping staff!

When Larry meets up with family, he always has someone to clown around with. In the photo above, he's enjoying time with his brother Dick Jamison, sister-in-law Linda, and their daughter Tracy.

In this touching photo, Larry is returning to the car in the Village Inn parking lot, assisting his older brother Dick. Or perhaps Dick was assisting Larry!

 Again in 2017, we were delighted to meet up with Janet and "share the love"!

 

Dick and Larry Jamison got acquainted with "Mr Family Tree"!

This representative from "Moose Roots" gifted Larry with his Moose hat and Larry was thrilled. A rolling advertisement!

 

Larry was not a bit shy about meeting up with Kenyatta Berry, of "The Genealogy Roadshow" while exhibiting his Moose Roots swag!

It was Larry's habit to enjoy exploring the Expo Hall and visit with all the Vendors. He especially liked picking up their swag. At the BYU booth, he picked up a small bouncing rubber ball that was clear but lit up red when it bounced and hit something. Larry attempted to bring it home in his luggage until he hit Security in the Salt Lake City airport. The THREE Security agents couldn't figure out what was going off in their x-rays of his luggage. AFTER A 30 MINUTE INSPECTION, the ball was discovered and confiscated. With Larry's back and shoulder surgery history, he was a bionic man going through security anyway! Oh, the price of having fun traveling with Larry Jamison!  

Our final visit with Janet in 2018! I hope someone at the 2019 RootsTech can find Janet and let her know of Larry's passing. I'd love to give her a hug!

Larry and I met Bruce Buzbee, creator of the RootsMagic genealogy software that we personally use, at a Family History Expo in Loveland, CO many years ago. It was fun to catch up with Bruce each year at RootsTech.

By attending RootsTech each year, we were able to make so many good friends who were also interested in learning about family history. Two of our very special friends from Arizona are Bobbi Twining Rogers, left, and Debbie Merrill Allen, right. We've spent more hours standing in line together than we'd like to admit, and have gotten acquainted as seatmates in many keynote addresses and concerts that were part of the RootsTech venue. I will certainly miss our fellowship together next month.   

We had truly hoped to be able to attend RootsTech 2019! I made our reservations the first day possible in October, 2018 and printed up my schedule (I always attended the classes while Larry visited the vendors in the Expo Hall). By the end of October, however, I realized Larry's health would not allow him to attend, and thus I wouldn't be attending either. I canceled all the reservations and tended to my husband until his untimely death on November 13. I will, however, be watching all the Live Streaming from the Salt Palace next month. And I know Larry will be watching with me. 

Vacations Brought us Valuable Time Together

Here's a quick look at the assorted vacations my husband Larry Jamison and I had 1994-2018. It was always fun to go somewhere with Larry because his greatest enjoyment in life, after loving his family, came from having fun. And fun with family brought out the best in Larry. 

September 1994

Larry and I enjoyed swimming in the ocean on Sanibel Island while visiting my brother Dennis and sister-in-law Marie in Florida. We're pictured below with Dennis and Marie at Tarpon Springs, FL. 

In 1994 I took Larry back to my hometown of Great Bend, KS to visit my parents and to show him where I spent the first 40 years of my life. As we drove off, I remember him saying that our NEXT trip would be to Greene County, Pennsylvania where he could show me around his hometown. Unfortunately, we never made it to PA. 

August 1999

We were delighted to be invited by Larry's brother Dick and sister-in-law Linda Jamison to experience "Hot August Nights" in Reno, Nevada in 1999. In the photo above, we're enjoying a favorite group "The Righteous Brothers" sing our favorite "Unchained Melody". 

On the final night of Hot August Nights, a PROM was held, as you can see us dancing in the photo above. I will gladly admit that I fell in love with Larry Jamison on the dance floor. He was a dreamy dancer.

2002 

We were invited to join my twin brother Dennis Margheim and his wife Marie Rocheleau on a vacation in the Bahamas to celebrate Dennis's and my 55th birthday.

 On board ship as we head back to Florida from The Bahamas.

We also enjoyed a trip to San Francisco in 2002. Larry had been working in Oakland, CA as a Scenic Artist on a project at the Visitor Center of the Oakland Temple for his brother, who owned Highland Film Productions. I was able to fly out to join him for sight-seeing, which was my first trip to California! 

2004

Again in April, 2004, Larry was working as a Scenic Artist on a film project with his brother at Highland Film Productions. I flew to Madisonville, Tennessee to visit him and see the sights. 

Dec 2004

Larry & I again met together while he was working for Highland Film Productions in Hawaii. We're pictured above touring the Pearl Harbor area. 

Having a wonderful time at the Polynesian Cultural Center near the campus of BYU-Hawaii.

 On Sunset Beach

Larry and I visited the grounds of the Laie, Hawaii LDS Temple, pictured in the background. 

June 2005

Larry & I are seated on the grounds of the LDS Temple in Salt Lake City, UT.

September 2006

One of our greatest pleasures was spending time with any of our 17 grandchildren. In this picture, we're attending the Highland Games in Estes Park, CO with Alyssa Klein (left) and Taylor Haining (right), daughters of my son Matt Klein. 

July, 2009

This picture is representative of many of the little field trips we took to our favorite sites right here in Colorado. This was at Brown's Creek.

July 2009

Larry and I visited the LDS Temple in Las Vegas, NV, as seen above. 

Larry & I toured Las Vegas with our friends Ken and Lureen Orchard. Lureen is taking the picture below, as we strolled the sidewalks with her and Ken. 

2012

I really like this picture of me and Larry looking in awe at the work done by Jim Bishop at Bishop's Castle here in Colorado. This was one of our favorite "tourist" stops.

June 2013

Strolling Cannon Beach in Oregon while enjoying a day with our daughter Becky Newman and her family. We had attended the high school graduation of our granddaughter Brenna Newman. 

Larry would love for you to think he was being arrested on Cannon Beach. But typical of Larry Jamison, he's just having fun and clowning with these policemen!

July 2014

In July, 2014 we made a trip to Kansas for the burial of my dad, Ernest L. Margheim, in Great Bend, KS. My grandfather owned the Jones Laundry in Great Bend, a business which was managed by my mother for over 50 years. As we drove back to Colorado, we noticed this antique shop that had an old-time washing machine on display. 

Larry is standing in Ness City, KS, where we stopped to remember many of my maternal ancestors from the early 1900s. 

June 2015

We returned gladly to Gresham, OR to visit our daughter Becky Newman's family and to celebrate the high school graduation of our granddaughter Rachael Newman. 

September 2017

 It was with great appreciation that we traveled to Salt Lake City, UT with our daughter Ruthie Brady to attend the funeral services of Larry's brother Dick Jamison. Getting through Security in any airport with Larry was a challenge and a test of patience due to the high content of metal in his body, and assorted surprises in his luggage that would set off the alarms. 

A visit to Salt Lake City wasn't complete without looking around the Halloween shop, where Larry turned into an adolescent with his (right-brained) creative imagination and comfort with drawing attention. 

This isn't really a picture of an old man in his scooter wishing he was 30 years younger parking his Harley Davidson. This is a man who's had a full life, having fun in the shopping center with his wife and daughter Ruthie, while remembering his adventurous days as a Harley Biker (as seen in the photo below, from 1998).

May 2018

Our final vacation took us to Cape Canaveral, FL and Merritt Island, FL where we attended the high school graduation of our granddaughter Alyssa Klein, pictured below with her grandparents. Pictured above, as we'ere shopping and sight-seeing are Larry, me, my twin brother Dennis Margheim, our granddaughter Kindall Johnson and our son Matt Klein.

Due to the visible clouds, we weren't able to swim or get sunshine on the beach on the west coast of Florida, but we had a wonderful time with our hosts Dennis Margheim and Marie Rocheleau after visiting our son Matt Klein on his sailboat at the Port Canaveral Yacht Club.  

Over the years Larry & I also enjoyed many vacations to Salt Lake City, Utah to attend our favorite genealogy conference, RootsTech at the Salt Palace. I will share a separate post to show those highlights, since they were numerous and memorable.