Jacqueline Sicking, of Katy, Texas – Jackie to friends and family -- died peacefully at home of natural causes on September 22. She felt she had lived a full life and talked of having no fear of transitioning from it. Her friends and family will remember her spirit, her wit and sense of humor, and her thoughtfulness.
Jackie was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1927. Despite growing up in the Depression, she had fond memories of her childhood, especially the times she spent with her father, who she felt taught her self-reliance and to look at life in different ways. Always interested in animals, Jackie had a pet chicken that sat on her shoulder, and loved to make rock villages for the local horned toads. During her young adult years, she worked at a women’s clothing store, and enjoyed modeling the clothes for the store, even though her family could not afford to buy many of them. So, Jackie learned to sew and was often complimented on the clothes that she made. It was one of many examples of how throughout her life she improved her life and others by “making do” well. She graduated from Tulsa Central High in 1944 and then attended a business college.
Some of Jackie’s favorite stories of her youth were during the WW II years. During the war Jackie worked as an usherette at the local theatre – one of her favorite jobs she held in her life – and was called to the theatre for an emergency. During the movie, it was announced that WW II had ended, and the theatre was overrun with celebrating GI’s! During the war, her family often entertained GI’s at their house. She met her future husband John Sicking at one of these gatherings after swatting him while he was helping himself to leftovers in their refrigerator!
John and Jackie were married in 1947 and moved all around the country while John completed his education on the GI Bill, including Ohio, Idaho, California, and back to Tulsa. John and Jackie had six children, and moved with the children to Arkansas, Libya, and finally to Houston, where they lived for most of their years together. Her experience in Libya in the early 1960’s as a Western woman with children tested her mettle for making do. She had to move her then five children to North Africa alone as her husband was already there working. She managed, but it was not easy. She had to get used to driving five children around in a Volkswagen Beetle, using a wringer washer, washing fruits and vegetables in boiled water, and figuring out how to make birthdays seem normal in a very strange environment for her and the kids. She was not afraid to stand up for herself and her family there, once running the Volkswagen through a blockade because she needed to get through to pick up her kids at school, an action that almost landed her in jail!
In Houston, Jackie became involved in volunteering at the local public schools teaching art history and appreciation to kids, became a Cub Scout den mother and volunteered at a nearby nature center and arboretum. She loved gardening and everyone always brought her sick plants because everyone knew “Jackie can make everything grow”. For most of her life after marrying John, she had additional “babies” in the many Dachshunds she raised.
Jackie loved her family and always made each place they lived a true home and welcomed her children back during times when their own lives were in transition. She taught her children to be kind, thoughtful and fair, and she managed a home of six kids with surprisingly few arguments. She made sure each child felt unique and had their own special talents. Jackie was a true celebrant of all the holidays, and her children always found them to be so much fun that her home was the place to be for holidays even as they had grown up and moved out on their own.
Jackie is predeceased by her husband John, whom she was married to for over fifty years, and her oldest son Steven Sicking, and her sisters Joanne, Frances, and Louise. She is survived by her five children and their spouses, all in Texas: Barbara Stell (Bob) of Dallas, Daniel Sicking (Pam) of Plano, Susan Browning of Katy, Matthew Sicking (Joni) of Richardson, and Janis Burall (Robert) of Katy, along with her brother Jim (Carol). Jackie is also survived by her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and friends she considered to be family.
At Jackie’s request, there will be private remembrance with family only. Her family would like to thank Oak Park Retirement Community in Katy for their kindness during the years Jackie lived there. In addition, the family recognizes Amazing Grace Hospice, providing gentle care to Jackie in her last months.
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