Obituary of Cheryl Jacobson

Cheryl Lynn Reeve Jacobson was born to Cecil Alexander Reeve and Rebecca May (Zink) Reeve during a blizzard on the 19th of January, 1949 in Fort Collins, Colorado. Growing up in LaPorte, Colorado as the eldest child of four, Cheryl was her father's right hand man. They raised registered Black Angus cows as well as farmed in the area now known as Harmony Road. They also had chickens, hogs, a dairy and raised a garden. This foundation provided Cheryl with the love for an agriculturally based rural environment. She was known to befriend neighbor dogs and cats and rescued many a "lost" pet including a loose horse that had escaped from a neighbor's pen. Cheryl caught, bridled and rode the horse home. That horse turned out to be out of a bucking stock string, but you would not know he wasn't tame and broke by the time Cheryl got it back to the rightful owner. Cheryl met the love of her life, Orin Jacobson, at Sterling Junior College in 1968. She said she "just knew it was right." After a short courtship, family introductions, her father's and his mother's blessings, the young happy couple married on July 21st, 1968. Cheryl moved to Burlington with Orin, living in town for just one year before settling out in her 44 year family home on County Road Bb. Susan was born in December 1969, and Brenton arrived to complete the family in February 1973. Diagnosed with lung cancer late in 2012, Cheryl battled it with incredible strength, determination, and stamina. She made her own decisions about treatment and chased after the next good day with fierce fortitude. After exhausting all reasonable medical interventions, Cheryl thanked her doctors and asked them to allow her to go home. Cheryl had several good days at home and was able to visit with her family before peacefully entering eternal rest, with birds singing and butterflies fluttering outside her open window, on April 8th, 2014. Cheryl was the cornerstone of the family; she was always making notes and coordinating the next tradition or family celebration. She made certain her children and grandchildren's sports and 4H events were well attended and supported. When her children or grandchildren showed livestock, and it was a treasured family event, not just something she had to do. By all accounts, showing at State Fair was a fun experience she made better for everyone. She always stressed the importance of getting along, being genuine and sincere, doing your best, and always saying I love you, especially when parting ways. Cheryl had pearls of wisdom that she imparted to friends and family in a way that wasn't forceful or demanding. Family meant everything to her. She really did care and found ways to make everyone she spoke with feel special. Cheryl worked for the City of Burlington for 26 years at Old Town, but she was so much more than a city employee to the people who came to the museum. Though she wasn't from Burlington originally, she worked tirelessly to preserve the local history, immersing herself in creative ways to educate children, locals and tourists alike. She impacted many people's lives in a positive way, and she continues to do so through her photography. In the last few years, she came into her own through her camera lens. Cheryl had award winning photos that hung in the Colorado State Capital Building and at Denver International Airport. Some of her photos hung with purple best of show ribbons in the last several years at the Kit Carson County Fair. Cheryl will always be with us when we look at nature and the world through her photography. Looking through her camera lens, Cheryl shared nature with folks that were shut-in. She provided a free-of-charge slideshow CD to local senior living centers so that everyone could appreciate the beauty of deer, the wind through a wheat field, the joy of new baby goats, and the bliss of children growing up in a rural setting. Along with her family, pets, and outdoor activities of her childhood stomping grounds around Watson Lake and LaPorte, Cheryl focused on her pictures as she thought of peaceful places while she was enduring treatment. As evidenced through her photos, she loved the vastness of wide open spaces, watching a herd on summer grass, the crisp colors of a fall morning, the warmth of summer sunsets, the power of a darkly layered cumulus storm cloud, the mischievous glint in a paint foal's eyes, and the tiny details of honey bees on her garden blossoms. She truly had a knack for harnessing the beauty of Mother Nature. Cheryl's green thumb was on display every summer as her flower and vegetable garden was always chock full of zinnias, cosmos, tomatoes, peppers and beans and anything else she could get to take root when she started her seeds in February. Ever soft-hearted, Cheryl couldn't bear to prune the extra seedlings and for a few years had upwards of 78 tomato plants in the garden. She taught her children and grandchildren to respect and love nature and passed on her appreciation for self-sufficiency. The family garden will be replanted this year with heirloom seeds Cheryl saved from past year's crops. Everyone will enjoy the fruits of the labor with canned summer bounty - thanks to Cheryl's canning and preservation instructions. Cheryl loved the smell of a horse's mane and truly enjoyed her "Snowflake" cows and calves. She had a gentleness that animals seemed to flock to and understand. She adored all animals, but especially loved horses, and credited her success in life to her experiences with horses and her father, who taught her to ride. As a testament to that fact, (in spite of her love for Orin, and before she would marry him), she told Orin and his father, Lester (who didn't want a horse on the place) that if her horse, Gypsy, could not come to the farm in Burlington, than she wasn't coming either. Needless to say, Gypsy came with Cheryl, and many other equine teachers followed to aid in the lessons that Cheryl taught Brent and Susan. Always up for family adventures, Cheryl looked forward to enjoying the tight lines at brookie holes in the Rocky Mountains as much as a bass on the hook at Bonnie Reservoir. Silly to serious, Cheryl was the glue for her family. A practical joker and lover of life, Cheryl's wit and sense of humor carried the family through many tough times. Even in the end, she put everyone's needs before her own. She was always the last one to have anything new. Cheryl was a diplomatic person whose opinion was respected and sought by her friends, children, and grandchildren. She wanted everyone to see the bright side of things and wouldn't want people to think of her with sorrow, but instead would encourage us to celebrate her life and appreciate one another. Cheryl was preceded in death by her beloved father, Cecil, and infant brother and sister, Kenneth and DeAnna. She leaves to mourn her passing, her husband of nearly 46 years, her daughter Susan and husband Greg, son, Brent and wife Julie, mother, Rebecca (Reba) Reeve, brothers, Dean, and Ed and wife Bernadette, Sister Roxanne and husband Sky Weitzel, grand children, Lindsey Davis, Cassie and Garrett Wright, Charlie and Emmett Bator. She is also survived by brother-in-law Larry and wife Delores Jacobson, sisters-in-law Mary and husband Hal Williams, Carolyn and husband Tom Russel, nieces Amber and husband Chris King, Katelyn and husband Jerry Befus, Dana Johnson, Tara Gallegos, Lori and Victor Diaz, LeAnn and Grant Carlin, Karen Walker, Linda Russell, Connie and husband Kevin Grant, nephews, Jason Weitzel, Clint Reeves and wife Mona, and Kirk Williams along with a host of grand nieces and nephews and wonderful friends.