Jeanne Klipping Obituary

We remember Aunt Jeanne as one of the most beautiful, graceful and loving women in our lives. We're not family (but friends of Tamarinde and Bob), but we considered Aunt Jeanne our Coloradan Aunty. A trip to CO (most summers between 99 and 09) was never complete until we visited with Jeanne, and... we enjoyed a couple of delicious Cosmopolitan Cocktails, or "Cossie Cockies' as we used to call them. It was a privilege to have known, loved and been loved by Jeanne. She will be sadly missed, and forever remembered.

Aunt Jeanne...what a special lady she was. I remember the day that I met her, I was so nervous. The minute she hugged me, I felt like I had known her forever. She made me feel so welcome and we talked for hours. She was such a caring and geniune woman. She lit up the room the moment she walked it. Her smile was as big as her heart. Her generosity was sincere. She will be deeply missed by ALL who knew her. Aunt Jeanne, we love you and miss you so much. Thanks for everything you have done for us. You are the sweetest person I have ever known. I am so thankful and blessed that I got the opportunity to know and love you. We are all better people because of you Aunt Jeanne..

I was reflecting on something that Pastor Goodall talked about at Aunt Jeanne's funeral service. He talked about how life is sometimes like a roller coaster or a bell curve with its highs and its lows.
My family spent 1961 and l962 in Hawaii while my Dad was stationed at Schofield Barracks. Hawaii had just recently become part of the United States and the local population was mostly ethnic Hawaiian and a mixture of Oriental cultures. Because of that there were no drive-in theaters and almost no real picture shows. As a result we went two years without seeing a real motion picture.
When we returned to the mainland in 1963 and got "reaquainted" with our relatives again, Aunt Jeanne asked my brother Bob and I to spend the night with her and Aunt Marian. After a beautiful breakfast Aunt Jeanne said she had a "treat" for us in the afternoon but first we had to earn it by doing some small chore. On this day that chore was to wash and vacuum her car and clean and sweep out the carport. After doing so ( and getting excited about the afternoon) she said she was going to take us to the movies. I believe it was either the Peak or Ute Theater downtown, a real sit down motion picture theater with stadium seating and what later was to be called surround sound.
I was excited because I was hoping to see something with John Wayne (Rio Bravo,maybe?) Bob had different tastes and he was hoping for an action movie with two actors he liked then, Steve Mc Queen and James Coburn.
Well, then it hit us and this is where the bell curve comes in. One minute your up and the next minute your down. Aunt Jeanne asked us if we liked musicals. Well, there was no sound when the pin dropped. All silence and just two adolescent boys searching for the right words. Bob said something along the lines of "you mean a musical like the Wizard of Oz." Aunt Jeanne said "yes, something like that." Then Aunt Jeanne said "Good, we are going to go see My Fair Lady." That was the show with Audrey Hepburn and Richard Harris and it was a real musical, meaning more singing than dialog and very little action. Bob and I both liked the Wizard of Oz and watched it almost everytime it was on television. But in all reality the Wizard of Oz wasn't a real musical. How could a real musical have mean green faced witches and terrifying flying monkeys? But we did go and I enjoyed it immensely and love musicals to this day. I can also say unashamedly that to this date in time I have only seen Rio Bravo twice, but I have seen and enjoyed Paint Your Wagon with Lee Marvin three times! On the downside, though, Bob still gets nightmares whenever he hears the words "enery iggins."
When Aunt Jeanne took us to see a musical it was just in her nature. She wanted Bob and I to leave our comfort zone and experience different elements of life and enjoy things that we would never consider for ourselves. It was similar to Aunt Jeanne showing my neices how to properly set a table with real china and how to arrange the silverware. She was always giving us new things to experience, enjoy and treasure as we grew older.
After the musical show Aunt Jeanne wanted us to experience other joys of life that we would likely not do for ourselves. That included several trips to fine dining restaurants like the original Village Inn on Pikes Peak Avenue (not the chain restaurants) and the Roman Villa in Palmer Lake. Then there was one trip to a fine French Restaurant that sat atop what is now a bank on Cascade. If I am not mistaken the restaurant even rotated! Aunt Jeanne would have us look at the menu and there was nothing on there we recognized. Almost everything came with something called "vous." Aunt Jeanne told us that was a French word meaning "with." So whenever you ordered something you didn't recognize you got with it something else you didn't recognize. The food, however, was very delicious and Aunt Jeanne said the French people could not cook anything by itself and whatever they made had to come with something else, thus the "vous." She seemed to think that the French couldn't cook anything that wasn't accompanied by some kind of cream or butter sauce.
See, Aunt Jeanne, I did learn something from all those adventures outside my comfort zone!

We'll miss her greatly, she always lit up the room whenever she came into our restaurant here at Mackenzie Place. We have all been blessed to know not only Jeanne, but all the family members who joined her here. Everything will be alright.

I am very blessed to be born into a family of Love. Aunt Jeanne knew how to give and share her love to many. My cousin Ron describes her well. My favorite memories of her were the weekends I spent with her as a child. We would cook,play dress up,had a special drawer of gum and candy and the best was the nest bed she made for me to sleep in. Aunt Jeanne made each and everyone of her neices and nephews feel special. I will miss her dearly and will continue to pass her love to my children and grandchildren. Thank you Aunt Jeanne for your love and memories. I will hold them close to my heart forever.

If you could describe Aunt Jeanne with a single word, it would be "class." She lived her life that way. She was a precious person to all who were fortunate to know her and she touched our hearts deeply and sincerely.
I have many fond memories of Aunt Jeanne while growing up. Sundays were family days and we always tried to meet at Grandma and Grandpa Klippings' house on North Meade. It was a small house and often all the nieces and nephews played outside or downstairs. On many occassions Aunt Jeanne (along with Aunt Marian and our "Uncle" Charlie Barrett) would give each of us a quarter or more and off we would go to Knob Hill to spend our "treasure." Knob Hill was just a few blocks away and traffic was light on Sundays and the Springs was a much safer place to walk alone.
So, up to Knob Hill we would go and spend our money that Aunt Jeanne had given us at places like Duckwalls, Lloyds Lanes (Bowling Alley), a miniature golf course whose name I can no longer remember and an old Gypsy family owned store on Boulder Street named Sollo's. Sollo's was primarily a comic book store but you could also buy magic items there and old time candy like chocolate cigarettes, candy cigarettes, Mason Dots and very large pieces of Double Bubble Bubble Gum.
Aunt Jeanne did not have any children of her own, and coming from a family with eleven children it seemed inevitable that she would adopt, adore and spoil all her neices and nephews. She certainly did this and I think it gave her life much joy and fulfillment.
As we got older in life Aunt Jeanne, Aunt Marian and Uncle Charlie would take us for road trips to Rainbow Falls, Santa's Workshop and to a small carnival in Manitou Springs that offered only kiddy rides. Oh, what good memories!
In our teen years we often got to spend the night with Aunt Jeanne and she would make breakfast for us that included waffles or french toast. Then, in the afternoons she would take us out to lunch at a place called Hof's Hut over in the Montgomery Ward Shopping Center. Now I don't know if Hof (the owner) was a he or a she but they made the best burgers in Colorado Springs and even used Thousand Island Dressing on their burgers before McDonalds started using it on their premium sandwich. If time was short and Hof's Hut could not be made for lunch, Aunt Jeanne would give us some money and let us drive her treasured, always low miles American made car just up the street on Bijou to a new place called Griff's Burger Bar on Circle Drive. The hamburgers there were only 15 cents. The burgers were good but did not compare to those we got at Hof's Hut.
I could go on and on with stories and memories that are still treasured and vivid in my mind.
My life was blessed because of this beautiful woman. I will miss her. I will mourn for her and cry for her because it is healthy for me and part of a healing process.
Her memory and legacy will live on in our hearts. God made her that way and she lived her life that way. Aunt Jeanne, we are all so very proud of you and thankfull beyond words for you kindness, generosity and class.

Ron Hefner