Celebrating our All Saints’ Stories—Dave and Jackie Jurkovich

Note: As stewards, we are called to share ourselves and our lives with others.  We at All Saints have much to celebrate, including each other.  In the spirit of celebration and giving thanks, what follows is the tenth in the series “Celebrating our All Saints’ Stories” which will help us learn more about each other and our community.

Involvement is important to Jackie and Dave Jurkovich. Dave can be seen regularly at the 10:00 service as an usher, and he serves as head of this ministry. He has been a member of the Finance Committee for years and works as a Counter each week, along with Page O’Connor. Dave has been Junior Warden so many times over the years--four terms including two one-year terms, one of two years and one of three years—his title could be “Junior Warden Emeritus.” Dave served as Senior Warden and has been on the Worship Committee.

Jackie’s work is less visible. Since 2019, she has served as the church’s Treasurer, overseeing all financial transactions, preparing and monitoring the annual budget, and working closely with Reverend Jana, the Vestry, and the Finance Committee. She has been a member of the Vestry and she has also participated in one Search Committee. Jackie has recently served on the Regional Discernment Committee to which Father Foxworth recruited her when the committee was at the parish level. This committee reviews candidates for priesthood or deacon, helping them to discern their call.

Jackie was a faithful attendee of the 10:00 service until health issues prevented her from attending. The three Jurkovich daughters were all raised at All Saints and many of us remember their participation as young girls and then their later attendance with their own families.

The Jurkoviches discovered All Saints in 1981. As Easter approached, Jackie wanted to find a church for their growing family. Since Jackie was raised Methodist and Dave raised Catholic, they thought the Episcopal church might be a happy medium. “I opened the Yellow Pages,” Jackie recalls. “All Saints was the first on the list and it was close to our south Sacramento home.”

On Easter Dave, a pregnant Jackie, and two toddlers arrived at All Saints. They received a warm, friendly welcome. “We decided we had found our church home and didn’t need to go anywhere else,” Jackie states.

Both Dave and Jackie were raised in Sacramento. Jackie was born in Des Moines, Iowa. Her father, seeking a sunnier climate, accepted a creative job at an ad agency in Sacramento. A few years after that, he and his wife, Melva, opened their own business, Jack Brashear Advertising Agency, where they worked until retirement.

Dave attended McClatchy High School and then Luther Burbank High School, played football at City College, and then transferred to UC Berkeley. “To avoid being drafted,” Dave relates, “I needed 15 credits a semester, but I was 5 credits behind due to taking only 12.5 credits during my two football semesters. I had to take another semester to gain entrance to Cal as a junior during the Spring semester. As a result, during my first semester at Cal, I was reclassified as 1A.”

Dave decided to drop out of school before he got drafted and enlist in the Army as an MP since he wanted to become a CHP officer. Basic training was at Fort Ord but, after the first two weeks, Dave decided he probably wouldn’t survive as an enlisted man and he was offered the opportunity to go to Officer’s Candidate School (OCS). The offer came at a good time. “I was thinking about getting ‘hitched’ and OCS offered housing,” Dave relates with his trademark grin. “I accepted their offer.”

Meanwhile, after finishing high school, Jackie took a job with Pacific Bell (now AT&T) as a long-

distance operator, working a cordboard just like the one Ernestine (Lily Tomlin) oversaw on “Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In.” Jackie reports, “Cordboards were fun! All of us women soon figured out it was faster and more fun to flip the cords into the slots instead of pushing them in as we were trained.” This was before direct-dial and all long-distance calls went through an operator.

Jackie attended both Sacramento State and Sacramento City College. “I had a great time in college and enjoyed being a Little Sister for Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity,” Jackie says. Years later, after Jessica was born, Jackie completed her college at Cosumnes River College, receiving her AA in accounting.

In 1965, Jackie and Dave met on a blind date set up by Jackie’s best friend, Madeline, and her boyfriend, Larry, who was a friend of Dave’s. Madeline told Jackie she would pick her up at her house at a certain time. Jackie didn’t want to go on a blind date so she decided she would sneak out of her house 30 minutes before Madeline was to arrive. But Madeline knew her friend well, and she arrived 30 minutes early, foiling Jackie’s plan. Jackie went on the date. For those of you who know Dave, you will be surprised to hear Jackie report that Dave didn’t say more than three words to her on that first date!

Their first date occurred on August 29th . Dave proposed on August 28th of the following year. They talked about a June wedding but, once the orders for OCS arrived, they planned to keep things simple and go to Nevada to elope, with their parents and a few friends in attendance. However, Jackie was an only child, so her mother quickly intervened and pulled together a wedding in three weeks. Jackie and Dave were married in November at First Methodist in downtown Sacramento before reporting to OCS at Fort Benning, Georgia the week before Christmas.

After Dave received his commission in the Chemical Corps, he was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas where he and Jackie went to live. When Dave completed his service, they returned to Sacramento. Dave enrolled in Sacramento State and he and Jackie lived in College Town while Dave completed his degree with a major in Physical Education and a minor in History. Dave then pursued a secondary teaching credential. Meanwhile, Jackie took a job at L.H. Penney & Company, a CPA firm which, through mergers, is now KPMG.

While Dave was attending Sacramento State, he contacted his former football coach at Luther Burbank who gave him a job as Assistant Coach…for no pay. Once Dave earned his degrees, he was given a full-time position at Luther Burbank, where he remained for 31 years until retirement, teaching P.E., history, Driver’s Ed, and math, in addition to coaching football, baseball, and swimming.

Dave and Jackie have lived in their current home since 1974, enlarging it along the way as their family grew. Jocelynn was born in 1976, Jessica in 1978, and Jilleann in 1981.

Both Jocelynn and Jessica were baptized in the Catholic church. Jilleann was baptized at All Saints by Father Ellison shortly after the Jurkoviches started attending. “We were very impressed with Father Ellison,” Jackie notes. “He had the children sit by the altar and he gave a special sermon just for them. He also included the children in the Christmas services, just as Reverend Betsey did later.” Both Jackie and Dave taught Sunday School, as did their daughter, Jessica.

Growing up at All Saints had such a large influence on Jocelynn that she became an ordained Episcopal priest. She is currently serving as the Executive Director of Cal Aggie Christian Association, known as CA House. Reverend Jocelynn has served as Celebrant at All Saints as a supply priest many times when our Rector has been away. Subsequently, she earned her Doctor of Ministry from Candler School of Theology at Emory University.

“All Saints is a good community,” Jackie states. “It has always been a friendly and loving community and supportive of us and our children. We are especially appreciative of the support All Saints and ECW gave to our daughter, Jocelynn, on her spiritual journey to becoming a priest.”

Since 2018 Jackie has volunteered at St. John’s Program for Real Change. “For about a year, I went into the facility to enter data,” Jackie relates. “Once Covid hit, I was able to continue my work at home.” She still works from home entering data for St. John’s. She adds, “I have been very impressed with what the program does for those who put in the work to turn around their lives.” In her free time, Jackie dabbles in genealogy.

Jackie would like to see our community grow to include more children. Jackie says that Jessica is waiting for the day to be able to teach Sunday School at All Saints again. Dave adds, “The Sunday School program we have to offer is very entertaining for kids.”

Dave believes that getting involved in running the church is a good thing and can be rewarding. “Everyone should be on the Vestry at least once,” Dave suggests. Jackie adds, “Getting involved makes you feel like you are part of a family.” Dave invites everyone to consider acting as an usher or serving on the Altar Guild, two ministries that are looking to grow. Jackie emphasizes that, when you join a ministry at All Saints, you will be greeted warmly and given helpful training by those already involved.

Both Jackie and Dave report that our worship and liturgy at All Saints resonates with them. “I believe our All Saints’ service is closer to what I grew up with in the Catholic church,” Dave claims. “We do the service better than the Catholics do now!”

“We felt comfortable with the service, the music, and, most importantly, with the people at All Saints from the start,” Dave relates. “It’s big enough to be small and small enough to be big.”