Posted by Newspaper Transcriber on Saturday, October 21, 2006 at 14:36:23 :

Barbara Joan Jeckel

Barbara Joan Jeckel died peacefully in her sleep at her Half Moon Bay home Sept. 5 at age 71.

"Barbara will be remembered for her loving and compassionate heart, her independence, her willingness to lend a helping hand, and her great sense of humor," said Mrs. Jeckel's daughter, Kathy Pedrini of San Mateo.

Mrs. Jeckel was born in Gallup, N.M., on July 27, 1935, to Julian and Antonia Kozeliski. She graduated from Gallup High School and attended nursing school at Franklin Hospital (now Davies Medical Center ) in San Francisco. After graduation from nursing school in 1956, she served for three years with the U.S. Navy in Portsmouth, Va. and Bethesda, Md.

She married her husband, Robert E. Jeckel, in 1959, and soon started a family. The couple would later divorce.

A born caregiver, she spent most of her life in San Diego and worked full time for more than 40 years as a registered nurse, at both Sharp Memorial Hospital and Alvarado Hospital in that city.

She always made time for family, said Pedrini, taking in Little League, Bobby Sox, Brownies, Girl Scout and school activities.

"Mom, we know you did your best and we love you for it," said Pedrini. "She was a very special person."

After retiring from nursing in 1997, she relocated to Jackson Miss., where she enjoyed fishing and was a literacy tutor, and then to Nathrop, Colo. While in Colorado, after surviving a near-fatal auto accident in December 2002, she helped care for her mother, Antonia, who suffered with Alzheimer's disease, until her mother passed away in April 2005.

Shortly afterward, Mrs. Jeckel moved to California to be closer to her children, and settled in Half Moon Bay.

Her last year in Half Moon Bay was a happy one, said her daughter. She enjoyed volunteering with the Coastside Adult Day Health Center, was an avid reader and talented needleworker, and enjoyed watching baseball and football, and rooting for the San Francisco Giants and 49ers, and the San Diego Padres and Chargers.

She also especially enjoyed going on casino bus trips, playing bingo, Pokeno and Scrabble with her Ocean View Plaza neighbors.

Mrs. Jeckel is survived by daughters Kathy (and husband Bill) Pedrini of San Mateo, Debra Denton and Kelly Jeckel of Santee, Calif., son Robert Jeckel Jr. of Las Vegas, grandchildren Adam Denton of Oxford, Miss., Jamie Denton of Pearl, Miss., Barbara Hession of La Mesa, Calif. and Austin Graham of Santee, and great-grandchildren Nathan Collins, III, Zach Copeland, Cody Copeland and Isabella Restani.

She is also survived by a sister, Antoinette Drennen of Nathrop, and extended family.

Family and friends are invited to a memorial Mass, which will be celebrated at 11 a.m. on Sept. 13 at Our Lady of the Pillar Catholic Church. Final interment will take place Sept. 20 at Glen Abbey Memorial Park in San Diego.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Mrs. Jeckel's memory to the Coastside Adult Day Health Center, 645 Correas St., Half Moon Bay, CA 94019, or to the Yaffe House, 3700 W. 17th Ave., Denver, CO 80204.

Half Moon Bay Review and Pescadero Pebble, Wednesday, September 13, 2006