Jackie Bear
February 4, 1950 – Oct. 13, 2020
Cherished wife, mother and grandmother Jackie Bear passed from this world on Oct. 13, 2020 due to stage 4 pancreatic cancer. She was at home with her family where her ordeal lasted barely over a month and her passing was gentle and swift, exactly as she had hoped for.
Jacqueline Charlene Cline was born on February 4, 1950 to Jim and Billie Ann Cline in Gilman, Colorado, lived in Minturn until she was five then moved to Wolcott where she started school and grew up with her sister and two brothers in Wolcott Colorado. In 1967 Jackie met and married David Bear. The next year they were blessed with a son, David Jr.
Her young family spent the next 15 years living and working in Colorado, Wyoming and Idaho where her husband’s work and military service took them.
In 1982 Jackie’s family pulled up stakes and moved to Alaska where David had work waiting for him. As would be expected she was nervous and sad at the thought of being so far away from her family in Colorado, but once settled in Ninilchik, Jackie instantly adapted and started making new friends in the community. Never one to sit idle when something needed doing Jackie found work at the general store in Ninilchik until 1984, when she was hired as Ninilchik’s librarian for the old town library, a job she was dedicated to and thoroughly enjoyed for the next 26 years. Jackie and many others worked tirelessly to have a new library constructed to better serve their community. During the summer of 2002 their work paid off and the new Ninilchik Community Library was completed. Until her retirement in 2010, Jackie worked diligently to make the new library the best it could be for its patrons. She was well known and frequently complimented for her ability and effort to help people find books they were looking for or she thought they might be interested in.
Jackie’s sweet, gentle and caring nature endeared her to people she interacted with wherever she went. This is reflected in the many, many cards and letters she received before and after her passing. She always put other people’s concerns and needs before her own, most especially so when it came to her family which she loved beyond words to describe.
Jackie is survived by her husband David; son, David Jr. (Tammy); grandson, Ryan; granddaughter, Heather; brother Bruce (Jackie Wells) and sister Sandy Knuth (Gary), both of Tennessee; and many nieces, nephews and cousins.
She was preceded in death by her parents, brother Chuck, and brother-in-law Gary.
Jackie’s wishes are to be buried in the American Legion’s Ninilchik Cemetery where she said she would be “in very good company” with people she’s known in her beloved Alaska community and it would be convenient for friends and family to visit her grave. She didn’t want a conventional service. Rather, she wanted to wait to have her cremains interred next year in May or June when winter is done and life begins anew. When that time comes around notice will be given for all who wish to attend, that a graveside ceremony will be held to bid farewell to Jackie’s earthly remains. Her concept of eternal life is to be remembered “In Every Heart She Touched, In Every Life She Changed and In Every Thought She Inspired” and it is this that we celebrate and honor.
