Garnetta Lou Rackley

Garnetta Lou Rackley
Our extraordinary, much loved mother died on February 24, 2015. She died as she would have wished, on her own time and with great dignity. She died with her family in attendance and with the love and assistance of the residents and staff at The Legacy House of Logan, which was her home for the past nine years
Garnetta was born on Oct 12, 1927, in El Dorado Springs, Missouri, to Lloyd Tye and Naomi Plain Tye. Lloyd and Naomi were divorced when Garnetta was still very young, and Naomi and Garnetta moved to Independence, Missouri .
After she graduated from High School, Garnetta met a young sailor who wooed and won her. At age 17, after a three-week courtship, Garnetta Tye and William (Bill) Rackley eloped on October 5, 1945.
When Bill was honorably discharged from the Navy, he and his new bride moved back to his hometown of Salida, CA. They moved a lot in those early years – Salida, Manteca, Ripon, Oakdale, to the farm in Salida, and finally to their lovely home in Modesto. During those young, hard-scrabble years, they bore and raised two children: David William in 1946 and Karen Elaine in 1949.
Mom stayed home until the children were in school, then worked for 27 years as an elementary school secretary. Her income helped to provide the “extras” that they wanted for their children: 4-H activities, field trips, vacations, and most of all, music lessons.
In retirement they indulged themselves in their love of travel, auto trips, cruises, train adventures, and finally a motorhome. When Bill developed Alzheimer’s disease, Garnetta was his caretaker and continued to arrange adventures for them to share together. He had always been the driver, she the navigator. When those roles were necessarily reversed, she found other ways to make him feel needed and important.
Garnetta was Bill’s caretaker for 12 difficult years. He died in 2002, after 57 years of wooing and courtship.
Garnetta moved to Logan, Utah, in 2006, to live closer to her daughter Karen. Wishing to maintain her independence, she moved to Legacy House Assisted Living, where she resided until the time of her death. Her nine years in Logan were marked by new friendships and new “family” members. She was immediately adopted by Karen’s friends and dubbed “The Queen Mother” by Bobbie, Christine, Darla, Gina, Helen, Julie, Sue and Susan. She was a founding member of “The Laughing Table” at Legacy House; the membership has changed through the years, but the laughter continues.
She loved and was loved by the staff at Legacy House Assisted Living, who enriched her life as she enriched theirs. When you hear someone humming in the hallway, you will think of Garnetta. Adrienne at Access Hospice was her personal angel in the last month of her life. She enjoyed visiting and teasing with her doctor, Thomas Clark, M.D., who teased her right back!
Thank you to everyone who brought laughter, caring, music and love into her life. Thank you to those who honored her by sharing your troubles and confidences with her. There aren’t enough thank yous; we are forever grateful.
Garnetta was preceded in death by her parents and her husband. She is survived by her children, David (Cordelia) Rackley and Karen (Lynn) Erickson; 8 grandchildren and two great-grandsons. Funeral services will be held on Thursday, March 5, 2015, at 1:00 p.m. at Franklin and Downs Chapel, 1050 McHenry Avenue, Modesto, California 95350. Condolences and expressions of sympathy may be shared with the family online by visiting www.allenmortuaries.net