Jewell Peete Obituary

Jewell Peete died on December 29th, 2007 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Her sister, Jacqueline Emery; her daughter, Jacqueline Cobb; her son-in-law, Tom Cobb; her grandchildren, Tom, Michael, and Cari; her cousin, Dorothy Schutz; her nieces, Susan McDevitt, Jonna Wynkoop, Julie Emery Smith, Molly Wynkoop, and Elise Wynkoop; and her nephews, Patrick McDevitt, Kevin McDevitt, Tate Wynkoop, Jim McDevitt, and Rob Smith survive her. She is preceded in death by her husband, her mother, father, and brother, John. Born in Benett, Colorado on April 5th, 1914, just months before the start of World War One, Jewell was a fourth-generation Coloradoan. Her silver-mining family emigrated from Cornwall, England, settling in Silver Plume, Colorado. Although she graduated from Cheyenne High School in Cheyenne, Wyoming, in 1931, Jewell spent most of her life in her beloved Denver. In homes in the north of the city (not far from the Trocadero Ballroom, the Wildcat, and the beautiful carousel at Elitch Gardens), she grew as Denver grew. Jewell studied journalism at Denver University. She cultivated lifelong interests in genealogy, cooking (she even wrote a cookbook, "Aunts in the Pantry" of family recipes), minerals, pottery, photograph albums, familial histories, and travel (her dear sister's job a travel agent helped as she made a number of trips to Europe, providing some of her most cherished memories). She met and married her loving husband of sixty-four years, Peete. And after World War II, and after Peete returned from his naval service in the South Pacific, the couple moved to a home on South Milwaukee (where Peete was reported to have raised many many rabbits). In 1950, Jewell and Peete had a daughter they cherished, Jacqueline. Jewell loved playing games, especially cards, and many nights were spent with midnight snacks of Oreo cookies and chocolate milk and games of Dirty Eight, Cribbage, Uno, and Hearts. No wonder she was part of a neighborhood Canasta club, which met for decades, even after the Peetes moved out of the neighborhood. One of the most special places for Jewell and her family was an alpine cabin, adorned with green, heart-carved shutters, which Peete (and the other hands on deck) built over many weekends over many years in Evergreen, Colorado. Each summer much of her extended family looked forward to the annual Forth of July Picnic at the cabin, where corn on the cob, potato salad, fried chicken, pulled saltwater taffy, and fruit salad were served before and after the poker matches, walks through the various meadows, annual hikes up to the top of "School Rock," and once, much to the delight of all the children, rides on a go-cart. Jacquie's girl scout troupe visited once, only to be delightfully frightened by Jewell and Aunt Jacque's nighttime prank: a ghost-shaped sheet being waved outside the window. Most of the family cannot help but smile when remembering the wonderful marshmallow roasts at the campfire site down by the tire swing (that swung nearly every member of the family). Jewell's family was her passion. Her siblings were daily priorities. Her daughter, a constant joy. Her cousins, nephews, nieces, and Canasta club members were sources of true happiness. And one only had to witness what would happen each time her grandchildren came to visit to understand how generous and abundant her adoration for her family could be: before the car could even come to a stop, Jewell would run from the house on Navarro Place, laughing as she'd scoop up each child with the most thrilled and affectionate hugs one could imagine. No wonder the children would run toward her as fast as they could: so much warmth, sweetness, fun, wonder, and love couldn't wait for them. Jewell is much missed. A memorial service will be held Friday January 4, 2008 at Crown Hill Funeral Home, 7777 West 29th Avenue, Wheat Ridge, Colorado 80033. Private inurnment will take place following. In lieu of flowers the family asks donations be made to The Multiple Sclerosis Alliance of Southern Colorado, 2377 North Academy Blvd., Colorado Springs, Colorado 80909 or a charity of your choice.