Page 6 - Aerotech News and Review, April 29, 2022

Saying goodbye to the first lady of Mojave Airport
by Cathy Hansen
special to Aerotech News
Mary Mildred “Jerri” Sabovich died in Savannah Ga., March 9, hav- ing reached 94 years of life on Feb. 28. She joins her husband Dan, and sons Danny and Mark, who predeceased her and hopefully now has the company of their love.
This beautiful, talented and fiery redhead came from very humble begin-
Courtesy photograph
Painting by Jerri Sabovich of her husband Dan.
nings, but always had high expectations and succeeded in becoming a respected and successful wife, mother, artist, com- munity volunteer and a wonderful friend to many people.
Jerri was born 1928 in Bellefonte, Ark., to Woodrow and Clarkie Jewel Jarvis where the family farmed 160 acres they owned. Like so many of that time, the Great Depression was a disrup-
tive force for change and by 1936 there were no jobs or money; so the dream of California was a beacon of hope for a better life. The family sold all of their worldly possessions, including the cow that sold for one dollar. Because folks didn’t have much money, their belong- ings only brought in pennies. With the meager funds in their pockets, her fam- ily headed west when she was eight years old.
Driving to California with so little money, she said the family ate and slept beside the road each night, finally cross- ing through the Tehachapi Mountains and down into the valley to the town of Oildale.
Jerri’s mother, Clarke Jewel, died Christmas Eve 1940 from cancer when Jerri was only 12. Later in life Jerri said, “There was no one to comfort me.”
Son-in-law Randy Gaston wrote in Jerri’s obituary: “Early life’s struggles was the furnace that steeled her resolve to make herself more than destiny had planned. At an early age she realized a talent for drawing. Starting Union High School at age 13, she wanted to fit in but was self-conscious of her clothes and that the other kids came from good families that had money. She bor- rowed a neighbor’s 50 year old sewing machine and taught herself to sew.” He said that Jerri told the story and said, “If I couldn’t buy ‘em, I could make ‘em!”
Gaston added, “A friend, who ex- pressed doubts about her acceptance, offered to introduce her for admittance to a girl’s club at the school.
“I passed, I won them over and was allowed to join” Jerri remembered. They were her circle of friends until gradua- tion and leaving for art school in Los Angeles.
Jerri was a fantastic, accomplished
Dan and Jerri Sabovich at a Society of Experimental Test Pilots symposium.
Courtesy photograph
since 1958.
Jerri was always supportive of her
husband, and their friends were the most historic names in aviation and flight test. Jerri was warm and gra- cious and she enjoyed entertaining. Randy Gaston wrote, “She was an ac- complished artist, made her own for- mal gowns, was a confident hostess and traveled the world. She was her own person. Towards life’s end, she moved from Bear Valley, Tehachapi which she loved, to Savannah, Ga., to be close to
artist and painted some lovely pictures of wild horses and my favorite painting was of her husband, Dan, holding a sad- dle. Her artistic abilities shone when she made a scrapbook detailing the accom- plishments of her husband, Dan Sabov- ich and Mojave Airport. She started the huge book in 1972, adding newspaper
clippings and magazine articles about the airport and the last page was done in the year 2000! She donated the book to Mojave Airport and it was digitized and every page can be viewed on a large computer screen in the Administration Building of the Mojave Air and Space Port. So much history saved in one place for all to enjoy.
Jerri was working in a real estate of- fice in Bakersfield when she first met Dan Sabovich. I am sure it was love at first sight! On their first date, Dan took Jerri flying in his Piper J-3 Cub. Their courtship lasted two
years and they got
married in Las Ve-
gas in 1949, accord-
ing to her daughter
Debbi Gaston.
As a young mother, Jerri was active in communi- ty service, helping at the local school, and working on the farm in Arvin.
Randy Gaston wrote, “She en- joyed telling the story of selling mel- ons on the side of Highway 99 which bordered their prop- erty.”
Her husband,
Dan, knew many
of the test pilots
at Edwards Air Force Base and had a dream of turning the former Marine Corps Air Station at Mojave into a civilian flight test center. Dan became the first general manger of the East Kern Airport District and served for 32 years. He had an association with the Society of Experimental Test Pilots
A page from the Mojave Airport Scrapbook compiled by Jerri Sabovich.
family.”
She leaves
behind her daughter Debbi Gaston, son in-law-Randy Gaston, grand- daughter Dacy Gaston Weiss, her husband Efrem, great grandson Asher; grandson Drew Gaston and wife Megan. A cel- ebration of life will be held at a later date.
Many thanks to Debbi and Randy Gaston for sending me the memo-
rial notice that they had published in the Bakersfield newspaper. We send our deepest sympathies and heartfelt prayers to them with the hope that the wonderful memories of Dan and Jerri will surround them always, and that God will cover them with His love and grace.
Courtesy photograph
Dan and Jerri Sabovich at Dan’s Retirement party in 2002.
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Courtesy photograph
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Aerotech News and Review
April 29, 2022