It’s hard to believe a year has passed since Our Lord wrapped His loving arms around Jack and took him home to Heaven. I’d like to share some fun memories of “Our Jack White”, a Special Man who touched the lives of so many.
When Jack lived in Austin in the 1970ies he became friends with many of the Texas Rangers. Stories flew fast and furiously when they gathered for lunch at a local hamburger joint. Jack had a pair of old, ostrich skin cowboy boots of which he was quite proud. They were covered with patches where they’d been repaired several times. Of course Jack had several other pair but he always wore these. The Rangers would kid Jack and say, “Hey man, you need some new boots!” Jack would reply, “I’m not rich like you Texas Rangers. I can’t afford new ones.” So the Rangers began giving Jack their old pairs of boots. Here’s a picture of Jack with his collection of Texas Ranger Boots along with a few saddles and pairs of chaps he was also given by his Law Enforcement friends! You may click on this or any of the other images to see them larger.
Years later Jack donated the entire collection to The Heritage Museum at Falfurrias, Texas, located by the famous Chisholm Trail. In the five years from 1867 to 1872, more than three million head of cattle were driven up the Chisholm Trail from Texas to Abilene, Kansas. By 1870 thousands of Texas longhorn cattle, Jack’s favorites, were being driven over the Trail to the Union Pacific Railroad in Kansas. Jack would have loved to live during the times of the cattle drives. He worked cattle on a huge ranch as a young man and in his later years often referred to himself as “an ol’ broken down cowboy”!
Soon after Jack and I met in 1990 he acquired a loft studio in an old industrial building. It was huge; almost 6000 square feet and the ceilings were 18 feet high. The north wall of the loft was lined with 10 foot tall windows, perfect lighting for an artist’s studio. We loved living and working there, talk about feeling like a “Real” artist! Jack was very inventive with building our easels, they were old pallets. While we were there Jack designed a line of denim jackets for a showroom in the Dallas Trade Mart. He painted 10 to 12 a day! NOW, how’s that for productive????? Makes me feel a bit guilty!
I had never traveled until I met Jack, so he introduced me to the world! Here we are in Cancun. Jack called this our “Caribbean Mafia” picture, he definitely looks Mafioso!
Me, the tree and the Tower of Pisa are all leaning! This was a fun trip we took in 2004 with some dear friends, Pat and Gary Gerber. We traveled through Spain, France, Italy, Corsica, Greece and Croatia. Jack manned the camera, taking reference photos, so I could sketch to my heart’s content.
Our FIRST cruise! We were living in Las Vegas when Jack surprised me one day by driving up to a wig shop. Looking at him quizzically I asked, “Why are we stopping here?” He turned and grinned, “Let’s make you a redhead!” It certainly shocked our friends on the ship when we showed up at the Captain’s dinner with my new “RED DO”! That little wig brought a lot of smiles over the years, many people didn’t recognize me as “Jack’s new red headed lady”!
We loved going on cruises, especially ones that stopped in a different destination every day. We weren’t big on endless days at sea, we wanted to discover new places! Capt’n Jack at the helm of the “Royal Clipper”, sailing from Bequia to Grenada in the Caribbean.
And, last but not least……bet you didn’t know it but Jack was an official Admiral in the Texas Navy! In 2006 he was commissioned by Governor Rick Perry and given control of the Texas Coast from Corpus Christi to Brownsville. How’s that for an Ol’ Broken Down Cowboy? The official ceremony was on the deck of the battleship, U.S.S. Lexington, anchored in the Corpus Christi Harbor.
I want to thank all of you for being with me this year, your love and friendship has made this new path in my life easier. As anyone who has lost a loved one knows, there are certainly days that are tough. But it’s amazing how much it has helped knowing all of you hold me close in your hearts. And when those pesky blues descend you know what I’ve learned? Gratitude drives Saditide away! Instead of focusing on the loss I concentrate on the fact I’m so blessed to have spent 26 years with Jack. Not only did he teach me to paint, more importantly he gave me the gift of showing me how to live a full and Christ centered life. What a wonderful example he was for all of us! And how comforting to know we’ll all be together again in Heaven for eternity. With Appreciative HUGS,
Mikki Senkarik 