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Leon Albisu posted a condolence
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
Leon Albisu remembering Louie Jaca
I have known Louie Jaca most of my life.
My father, Batista (Boat) Albisu (1914-1999) was born and raised in McDermitt, NV. I was born during World War II while my father was in the Army. In 1946, we moved back to McDermitt and lived next to the Joe and Bea Jaca Family during my entire childhood. I’ve been well acquainted with Louie since that time.
One of the most memorable events in my life is a trip to Arizona in 1957 with Louie: The Campbell family, Gene and Frank, who owned Ashfork Livestock Company, purchased the Lucky Seven ranch. Frank Campbell’s sons, Bob and Bill, were at the ranch with Gene Campbell’s son-in-law, Harry Lund. Louie was good friends with the Campbells’, as Bob and Bill were his age. Ashfork Livestock Company was a pioneer in the United States in the Charolais cattle business. After they purchased the Lucky Seven ranch, they started hauling Charolais cattle out of Arizona to McDermitt. Most of the cattle were bulls. Since we lived next to Louie, I saw him regularly. One day when I was in the eighth grade (1957), Louie asked me if I wanted to go to Arizona with him to get a load of bulls. You can be assured that I was excited to go, as I hadn’t seen much past Winnemucca.
Louie arranged our trip so we could leave after school on a Friday. Eddy Jaca, Louie’s nephew, accompanied us. He was about twenty years old. He helped drive. The truck was a middle-1950s International cab-over with no sleeper. It had two seats and a flat place on top of the engine. One did NOT get cold in this truck! The truck had a 265 HP engine and a 5-speed transmission with a 3-speed auxiliary. It was the first new truck that the Jacas ever purchased. It had a flatbed with a trailer behind. They put racks on it to haul livestock and took them off to haul freight. When I first remember, they had two 1947 Chevrolet single axle 2-ton trucks. The Chevrolets had 4-speed transmissions with 3-speed brownies. They pulled 30-foot single axle flatbed trailers used with livestock racks in the same manner as the later flatbeds and trailer. Later, they had a Hall-Scott propane-powered truck with a trailer.
Now on with our Arizona trip … we left McDermitt about 4:00 p.m. and drove to Boulder City, Nevada; stopping a couple of times for fuel and food. Louie got a motel room for us in Boulder City (two twin beds). Eddy and I shared one bed. It was about daylight when we went to bed. Louie could sleep anywhere, anytime … it was his way of life for many years. Eddy and I woke up mid-morning and made enough noise that we aroused Louie. Louie wasn’t real happy about it, but he got up and we headed out. Louie stopped and parked the truck on top of Boulder Dam. He bought us tickets and we toured the dam. I was impressed, and remember it vividly. We departed Boulder Dam early afternoon and drove to Chino Valley, Arizona. We arrived about 5:00 or 6:00 p.m. Bill Campbell lived there. He was not married yet, and lived by himself. It was a nice little house. He fixed us supper. After supper, we went to bed. I slept on the floor and Eddy slept on the couch. The next morning, we got up about 4:00 a.m., had breakfast, and loaded the bulls. We left Chino Valley about daylight (around 6:00 a.m.). The truck was never turned off after that. We stopped to eat and fuel a few times, and we arrived in McDermitt early Monday morning in time for me to go to school.
I have great respect for Louie’s work ethic. I worked in the service station adjacent to their home from 6:00 p.m. to 10 p.m. from 1954 to 1961. I walked past the Jaca place on my way home. Many times, Louie and other family members would be out there changing tires at that late hour - even in the winter.
Louie was not the most sociable person about going out on the town or things like that, but he still had lots of friends all over the country. One of the things that surprised me in Louie’s life was that he joined the Fraternal Order of the Elks. He went through all of the chairs and became the exalted ruler of the Winnemucca Elks.
Sometime after Louie retired, I saw him and asked how he liked be retired. He made it clear. He made it clear. He said something like, “It isn’t worth a shit. I don’t like being retired at all.” Even in retirement, he stayed busy. He went lots of places and hauled lots of freight with his pickup and trailer.
When he was older, he was having trouble walking. He went to the Dr. and both of hips were shot. He had double-hip replacement surgery. He did not think it was funny when they issued a recall on his hips. He had to go to Salt Lake City for a long time, but they finally cleared his implanted hips.
I remember one incident that I thought was hilarious. I was in back of Louie’s house with Louie and Bob Campbell. My son Brett, a toddler at the time, was with me. Louie had an English bulldog. The dog was overly friendly and he was trying to lick Brett’s face. The adults were not paying much attention. All at once, Brett was hollering, “It’s a pig Daddy, It’s a pig!” The dog looked like a pig he had seen in pictures. Louie said, “That kid is calling my dog a pig!.” We all laughed!
This story was after I moved to Burns in 2002. I was in McDermitt doing some work on one of my properties. My son, Brett, and my grandson, Mark, were there. In the evening, Mark and I took a walk around town. We were going by Louie’s house and the light was on. Brett and Louie were good friends, so I thought Louie might like to meet Mark. We knocked on the door, and Louie invited us in. He was glad to see us, and so was his new dog (Katy, I believe). Pretty soon he tells us about his hearing aids. Seems the dog had eaten numerous ones of them, and they cost about $1100 each. He thought it was amusing, and the dog was there to stay! I hope he started putting his hearing aids where the dog couldn’t reach them!
I have numerous other stories, but some should probably not be repeated.
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LaRina Bell posted a condolence
Saturday, July 20, 2019
My First memorie of Louie is when he used to deliver supplies to grandmother every week in the 80's, I was about 8 years old and he would bring his semi truck down our drive way, I thought it was so neat.. As I got older I worked at "say when" and Louie, every evening he had dinner at Say When Casino. Along with Sam Albisu, Floyd Crutcher, and Jim Albisu, or with Las, Rodney Burrow, and Jerry Lugert if there in town visiting.. He would give them a tour around the block, they all had some sort of news of our little town..if it was someone getting a new vehicle or someone having a new girlfriend they all knew or had to get the latest gossip. Louie always teased, if he had a question he wouldn't hesitate to ask but he told many stories of grown up in McDermitt and Jordan Valley that I will forever have. RIP Louie
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Dan Joyce lit a candle
Friday, July 19, 2019
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Gwenia Callao posted a condolence
Wednesday, July 17, 2019
I met Louie at the say when casino in mcdermitt, waited on Louie and his two buddies Floyd Crutcher and Sam Albisu for many years. My favorite time was dinner time. Louie never really cared for liver and he always told me “tell those cooks to burn it on both sides so I could use it for the soles of his shoes”. All three have passed but I still think of them often, miss you. Gwenia
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Joetta Kerns posted a condolence
Wednesday, July 17, 2019
Awww we all loved Louie he use to tease us every day we walked through their little road to have lunch from school. Was just sharing my memories of riding in the back of a cattle truck to 4h camp. It was so much fun, thanks Louie for giving us wonderful memories that will never be forgotten ♡♡♡♡♡♡
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The family of Louis Richard Jaca uploaded a photo
Monday, July 15, 2019
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