Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
WOODRUFF, Wis. - Jacqueline Jane Canfield Bassett, 89, passed away on Thursday, April 12, 2018, at Howard Young Medical Center in Woodruff, surrounded by her family.
Born on Aug. 9, 1928, in Indianapolis, Ind., Jackie attended Tudor Hall School for Girls. Even as a young woman, her interests and pursuits were varied. She read widely, rode and showed American saddlebred horses, earned her pilot's license, and drove to Alaska in 1949, before it was a state or had paved roads.
After receiving a Bachelor of Science in Air Transportation (1950) from Purdue University, she worked for Convair Aeronautics in San Diego, Calif.
Jackie married in 1952 and raised three children. During this time, she also rafted the Colorado River, sailed competitively, learned to scuba dive, and became a certified water safety instructor and commercial potter. She was an unconventional homemaker by all accounts.
In the 1970s, she returned to the Midwest, to Presque Isle, where she farmed trout. Over the intervening 40-odd years, she became a Master Gardener, raised sheep, learned how to spin and weave, ran a cross-country ski center and traveled to every continent, except Antarctica and Australia. At 88, she zip-lined across the Buller Gorge in New Zealand with walking stick in hand.
Anyone who loved Jackie found inspiration in her indomitable spirit, her independence, and her ceaseless curiosity. She was a role model to her children, her grandchildren, her great-grandchildren, and her friends.
She is survived by her brother, John Canfield; children, Karen (Randy) Mallum, Barb (Laurence) Matula, and Dave (Laura) Beekman; grandchildren, Matt Mallum, Ben Korte, Cole Korte, Lydia (Jon) Loeffelholz, Chris Beekman, Eric (Nyree) Beekman, Jayson (Maria) Beekman, and Elizabeth Beekman; and great-grandchildren, Damon Mansfield-Beekman and Chloe Loeffelholz.
She is preceded in death by her parents and her close friend, Ray Kouchich.
The family plans a memorial service for mid-September, and would like to thank Jerald Rocco of Lakeside Memorial Chapel in Wakefield, Mich., for his gracious assistance in making final arrangements.
