Jackie Gunn-Smith

Date of Birth

June 7, 1946

Date of Death

January 10, 2011

City of Death

Santa Barbara

Jackie lost her final battle with cancer in the early afternoon of January 10th at her home in Rough and Ready. Her husband, Jeff, and the wonderful Rebecca from Hospice of the Foothills were with her as she passed. Jackie was a caring, generous and joyful person. To paraphrase the late Will Rogers, Jackie never met a person she didn’t like. Those who knew her surely felt the same about Jackie as her many friends at UCSB could attest. Her life was far too short but her positive attitude and energy were an inspiration.

Jackie was born in the small town of Dickinson, North Dakota as the first child of Bill and Tui Barrow. Tui was from New Zealand and met Bill when he was stationed there during WWII. The family moved around a bit during Bill’s 30 years in the Navy with stops in Norfolk, Virginia, Panama, Mare Island and Hawaii. Oddly enough Bill’s final posting was in Stockton, California where he worked on Rough and Ready Island.

Jackie met Jeff in Stockton and they were married in December of 1973. Soon after they moved to Santa Barbara and Jackie began her career with the University of California. After 13 years they decided on a lifestyle change and moved to Windsor, California where they owned and operated a retail flower shop. That enterprise failed to bloom and Jackie joined the staff at Santa Rosa Junior College in 1993. Three years later the University called her back as they needed her expertise to help design a campus-wide billing and accounts receivable system. So in 1996 it was back to Santa Barbara. Seven years later, what was supposed to be a three year project was finally completed. In June of 2004 Jackie took a well-earned retirement from the University. Her retirement party was quite the affair with over 200 friends and colleagues in attendance.

Soon thereafter the wanderlust struck again and Jackie and Jeff sold their home in Santa Barbara and moved to their new home in Rough and Ready in March of 2005. She loved everything about the area; the friendliness of the people, the slower pace of life and most of all the wildlife. She would sit on the back patio with her crossword puzzle and enjoy the deer, turkey, squirrels, birds, rabbits, bobcats, coyotes and even the occasional bear parading through the back yard. Jackie truly loved animals and volunteered at the Nevada County Animal Shelter and also served as the Membership Chairman for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Release. She enjoyed cooking, reading and watching Jeopardy although often got mad at Jeff when he correctly answered the final question.

Jackie is survived by her husband Jeff and sister and brother-in-law Ruth and Dewey Horn of Scotts Valley. There will be a Celebration of Life for Jackie at The UCSB Faculty Club on Thursday March 3rd at 3:30 PM.

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