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Mackey
Jennifer Elliot Mackey, 95
Jennifer Elliot Mackey, 95 years old, passed Friday, Jan. 12, 2018, in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, of influenza. She was born in Long Beach, Calif., in 1922 to Archie and Melissa Elliot, the seventh of eight children.
Growing up just blocks from the beach, her family survived the 1933 Long Beach earthquake; although their house — where they were eating dinner — was completely destroyed, all escaped. Representing the letter “A” on the song (flag) team at Jordan High, she graduated in 1940. She then attended Long Beach Junior College and went to work for a lawyer.
A war bride, she married a dashing Naval Aviator, Clarence “Bill” Mackey, in October 1943 as she got off the train in Portland, Ore. They spent their first year in Tillamook, Ore. From then on, they moved virtually every year, coast to coast as she became a career military wife and mother, making a home in such places as Texas, Florida, Rhode Island, North Carolina, Georgia, Maine, Virginia, Washington, California, and a move to Okinawa, Japan.
Retiring from Navy life in 1974, she and Bill settled in the gold discovery area of Northern California. After years of military luncheons and charity functions, it was a natural step for her to become a prominent member of the El Dorado County Republican Women, holding fundraisers and hosting candidates.
When her husband passed in 1991, she sold the rural house and moved to Las Vegas, Nev., to be near her son. She co-founded the Spring Mountains Republican Women’s group there and enjoyed life in a senior community. In 2011, at age 89, she accompanied her son to relocate in Coeur d’Alene.
She is the last of her generation to pass and is survived by her daughter, Mallory Mackey of Sacramento, Calif.; and son John Clarence Mackey of Hayden, Idaho.
She will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery alongside her husband of 48 years, Captain C.E. Mackey.
Yates Funeral Home is entrusted with final arrangements. Please visit Jennifer’s online memorial and sign her guest book at www.yatesfuneralhomes.com.