Published Wednesday, August 14, 2002
Obituaries
Manteca
Edwin F. Sackett
Lumber mill worker
Edwin Floyd Sackett, 99, of Manteca died Saturday, Aug. 10, 2002, in a hospital. He was born Jan. 30, 1903, in Grants Pass, Ore. Sackett lived in Montana before settling in Manteca five years ago. He retired after 30 years from White Pines & Sash, a lumber mill, in Montana. He was a member of the Salvation Army.
Survivors: children, Evelyn V. Masterson of Stockton, Dale L. Sackett of Manteca and Robert N. Sackett of Pleasanton; 10 grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; and five great-great-grandchildren.
Services: memorial, 2 p.m. Saturday, Frisbie-Warren & Carroll Mortuary, 809 N. California St. Visitation: none. Inurnment: private.
Saturday, August 17, 2002
Thank you for being here today. I think that what I admired most about Dad was his ability to speak or sing to anyone without any fear or inhibition; not like I feel right now.
Born: Glendale, Oregon, January 30, 1903
Died: Manteca, California, August 10, 2002
Married: Helen Elizabeth Henkle, February 8, 1925
Children:
Oliver, Missoula, Montana; preceded Dad in death, February 1999
Evelyn Masterson, Stockton, California
Dale, Manteca, California
Robert, Pleasanton, California
8 Grandchildren, several Great-grandchildren and most recently a
Great great grandchild.
Dad's father was killed in an accident when he was about 16. He quit school and worked at anything he could find to help support his Mother, brother and sister. That ended his formal education, but he loved to read and educated himself from that point on.
In 1937, unable to find work in Klamath Falls, Mom and Dad decided to move to Florida where he had heard there was plenty of work. But, Mom's family had all moved to Missoula, Montana and she insisted that they travel to Florida via Missoula because she was certain that she would never see her Mother again. They decided to settle in Missoula.
A member of the Salvation Army most of his life. He was a man of strong Christian conviction and an avid student, as well as teacher of the Bible. He taught Sunday School, acted as lay minister sharing the Gospel with most everyone he met.
Somewhere in the early 1940's, Dad started work at the Missoula White Pine and Sash Company where he stayed until he retired in 1968. His job was to pull finished lumber off of a planer. That job probably caused his hearing loss because there was no consideration for worker's hearing in those days. The Company made a documentary film about the operation and asked Dad to slow down his movements so they could get a good shot of the planer operation. As I recall, when I saw the film, he was still moving mighty fast.
After Dad's retirement, he took a position at a local nursing home as a
maintenance man. He had a very unfortunate accident when an elevator he was trying to free fell to the ground floor and his left ankle was crushed. The road to recovery was very long. Two surgeries and insertion of steel pins couldn't repair the damage so he spent the rest of his life crippled with the foot turned inward. However, once he overcame the emotional shock of the accident, he continued on with his life as though it was a minor problem. In fact, he joined a bowling group and continued bowling with senior groups until well into his 80's.
In 1975, Dad had a serious illness that convinced all of us that he was surely going to die. So, Chris and I asked Mom and Dad to move to Beaverton, Oregon so they could escape the concerns of owning an older home and we could assist them with incidental needs.
After Mom passed away in 1986, Dad decided he wanted to do some traveling so he joined a group called SCRAM (Senior Citizens Roaming Around the Map). They sponsored economical trips and he went on several throughout the United States. The best and the last one was a 30 day bus trip to Alaska. But, he talked more about the $3.00 charged for a cookie in the Northwest Territory than the awesome scenery of the region.
In 1988 there was another major change for Dad because of the lose of my job in Oregon. We were eventually forced to sell our home and move to California. It wasn't feasible for Dad to live with Chris and I so he went to live with Evelyn, then Dale and when he needed extra care, he moved to Sunbridge. He adapted to living there very well. Even though he was wheelchair bound, he moved about the facility socializing with everyone.
One of the activities was playing Bingo; the prizes were bananas and he won a lot of them. Dale and I were discussing the other evening that we weren't sure he was particularly skilled at the game, but maybe he was the only one that stayed awake long enough to win.
He enjoyed singing Gospel songs and shared Christ with his companions at Sunbridge until March of 2002 when his health began to fail rapidly.
He loved to paint with watercolors, as well as oils and gave most of his
creations to friends and family.
Just imagine the changes Dad saw throughout his lifetime. I think I've seen changes, but it boggles my mind that he was born the year the Wright Brothers had their first successful flight, he drove a "Tin Lizzie" and eventually took several trips via jetliner.
The only sadness I feel today is in knowing that I'll never see Dad again, but I take great comfort in knowing that he has gone home to God and is at peace and I have many wonderful memories to cherish.
May peace be with you, friends.
Note: This is what I wanted to say...I know I hit some of the thoughts and wanted to share this with you.
An update September 15, 2002. I had training in Seattle the week of September 8th, so I delivered Dad's remains to Riverview Cemetery in Portland en route to Seattle. His remains were interred in the crypt with Mother at 2 PM, Friday, September 13th.....may they rest in eternal peace together.
Robert N. Sackett
