Please accept this footnote to a closed chapter of Fountain Hills history.

Jackie Mayper passed away on Aug. 25 at peace and in her sleep. She was a resident of Fountain Hills for over 25 years.

On our way to see Saguaro Lake in the spring of 1973, my parents noticed a fountain rising above the middle of the desert and turned off the Beeline highway to investigate. Two hours later, they were working out the final details of a land purchase with Omer Applewick while my brother and I got a helicopter ride.

We moved into our newly built home at 16622 Glenbrook Blvd. From the city and suburbs of New York to a lone house on a hill in the middle of the desert was quite a change. Fountain Hills was more desert than homes, but soon enough our neighbors became friends and we were home. It was a rare event if my parents were home and not entertaining friends on a weekend night.

Your archives hold the story of Jackie’s involvement in Fountain Hill’s civic and social life. My favorite memory was an announcement by the Fountain Hills Woman’s Club, that a meeting would be re-scheduled in observance of the Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur. I do not think there has been a mass observance of this holiday by so many gentiles. In a January, 1977 article, it was noted that Jackie had organized the children’s Christmas parade with my father getting to be Santa Claus!

After my father’s death in 1987, Jackie volunteered as a grandparent at the Fountain Hills elementary school and as a senior peer counselor.

Jackie is survived by her children, Merrill, Robin, Larry, Chuck and her grandchildren Candice, Chad, Becky and Michael.