Jackie Jean (Shaw) Steger

Jackie Jean (Shaw) Steger was born June 23, 1949 in Imperial, Nebraska, Jackie was the youngest child of Bud and Jo Shaw.
She lived in an apartment in-town for many years before the family moved to the hydro-plant outside of town. Jackie loved to share stories of her adventures.  There was the story about the lamb that chased Patti up a tree and the one about riding to town on the school bus that Bud drove. There were also the stories of her learning to drive on the winding dirt roads (and putting a car in the ditch), and locking someone into the trunk of a new car in high school only to have to tear out the back seat in order to get her out.
Jackie graduated from Imperial High School in 1967 and moved to Denver, Colorado to attend business school. She would meet her future husband Tom, while playing pool.  She said she wasn’t too sure about him at first, but finally said yes to a date. She was very glad she did, because “he turned out to be the best thing of her life.” They were married in Imperial on Feb. 14, 1970.
Together they made a home and raised two children, Marti Jo and Tom, outside Denver in Aurora, Colorado. Over the years, Jackie and Tom also opened their home to her sister Tona as well as many other friends and family members.
Though a private person, Jackie didn’t know a stranger and would gladly sit at the coffee counter, or on the bleachers at her son’s baseball games and share a good laugh. Jackie loved big family dinners, whether it was in Imperial or hosted in her home. There was always room at Jackie’s table for you a lesson she learned from her mother, Jo.
Jackie worked hard her entire life. Holding numerous roles with companies in Denver, she retired from J.L. Hermon and Associates after a long career as bookkeeper and office manager in 2000.  
Jackie and Tom watched their children grow up and then move away to the east and west coasts.  She treasured visiting them both and, even more, welcoming them home again. She felt the greatest pride in her children, saying that she knew she had “done something right, because she married a good man and together, they had raised good children.” While she acknowledged that sometimes being a mother was hard, becoming a grandmother was “just so special.” She would brag on her grandchildren Cayla “Socks,” Matilda and Maximus to anyone that would listen.  
Jackie passed away in her home on Feb. 18, 2020 just days after celebrating 50 years of marriage to Tom. Friends and family gathered with them and called from across the country to congratulate them on such a golden achievement. Jackie indicated on her calendar that it has been 50 wonderful years; and she was so very proud to see it.
Jackie is survived by her husband Tom, Centennial, Colorado, brother Jimmy Shaw (Linda), Yuma, Arizona, sister Tona Shaw, Denver, Colorado, children Marti Jo (Jeremy) Centennial, Colorado and Tom (McKenzie), Franktown, Colorado, grandchildren Cayla, Matilda and Maximus, extended family as well as many “adopted” family and friends.
Jackie did not want a funeral or flowers. She asked instead, that you stand or sit in the warmth of the sun, feel the cool breeze and simply appreciate the moment.