Jacquelyn Gauthier

June 15, 1979

Traverse City Record Eagle
Saturday, June 16, 1979

Jacquelyn Gauthier

Traverse City — Jacquelyn (Jackie) E. Gauthier, 18, of 2109 N Memorial Highway, a 1979 graduate of Traverse City High School, died Friday at Munson Medical Center following an automobile accident.

Jackie was the first female president of the Traverse City Senior High Student Council and she had been elected to the Hall of Fame for Government at the high school. She was also very active in a singing group at the school.

She was born in Traverse City Dec. 26, 1960 to James and Phyllis (Broad) Gauthier and lived in Traverse City her entire life. At the time of her death she was employed as a waitress at Mr. Steak.

She is survived by her parents, five brothers; Jeffery, Jon, Ernie, Ben and Paul, all at home; four sisters, Mrs. James (Jennell) Meachum and Mrs. Greg (Debbie) Eikey, both of Traverse City; Mary and Colleen, both at home; paternal grandmother, Mrs. Esther Gauthier, Traverse City; maternal grandfather, Edward Broad, Traverse City; one nephew, two nieces, cousins, aunts, and uncles.

She was preceded in death by her brother Tom, in 1975; a sister Kathy in 1977, maternal grandmother Erma Broad, and paternal grandfather Isadore Gauthier. Two sisters, Kelly and Michelle were also killed in Friday's accident.

Funeral services will be held Monday at 10 a.m. at Immaculate Conception Church with Father Patrick McSherry officiating. Burial will be in Solon Township Cemetery. Friends may call at the Reynolds Hanson Funeral home where a scripture will be recited Sunday at 8 p.m. Mass cards are available at the funeral home.

Traverse City Record Eagle
June 18, 1979

A tragedy-ridden family buries 3 mores children

By Mike Norton, Record Eagle Staff writer

Traverse City — The Gauthiers of North Memorial highway are a big, loving family. That's what people who know them — and there are many — will tell you. One of those close-knit families that almost seem to belong to another time, another place.

You may have seen or talked with them; parent and children, as they worked in the family fruit stand just south of town at the foot of McRae Hill. Under the summer sky, smiling with customers.

But not today. Today there were clouds, and there was sorrowful work to be done. Today the Gauthiers gathered beneath the wooden roof beams of Immaculate Conception Church to bury three of their daughters.

• 18-year-old Jacquelyn — called "Jackie" by her friends.

• 10-year-old Michelle, who was known as "Mickie."

• 8-year-old Kelly Sue.

All Three of them dead, killed Friday afternoon with their friend Trista Hawkins in a swift and terrible automobile accident. And it has happened to the Gauthiers before.

Once there were 14 children — 14 sons and daughters of Jim and Phyllis Gauthier.

Then four years ago, 16-year-old Tom died in a motorcycle crash. Two years later, a gravel truck collided with a car carrying 19-year-old Kathleen. And now this; now there are nine.

Jackie had just graduated from Traverse City Senior High — the first female president ever elected to the Student Council. She also had been elected to the school Hall of Fame for Government and was active in a school singing group. She had planned to attended Northwestern Michigan College in the fall.

Mickie had just finished the fourth grade at Sabin School, where she played volleyball and was a member of the school's all-city championship track team. Eight-year-old Kelly Sue had just completed the second grade at Sabin and had been invited to attend classes for gifted and talented children.

It was hot and muggy afternoon Friday. Jackie had just finished a two-week training course for her summer waitress job at the Mr. Steak restaurant on Munson Avenue, and decided it was a good day for a swim. Since the water of Grand Traverse Bay is too cold to swim comfortably, she headed out Long Lake Road for the public beach at Long Lake.

With her were Mickie and Kelly Sue and brothers Ernest, 12; Paul, 4; and Benjamin, 6. And 8-year-old Trista Hawkins — a friend of the family who was attending St. Francis School, and who had come along for the ride.

They had nearly reached the lake. They were only a mile away, near the intersection of North Lake Road and Bridlewood Road. And no one is certain yet just exactly how it happened.

State Police reports say that — for some reason still undetermined — the car Jackie was driving began to creep over the centerline. It kept on inching into the other lane for about a quarter of a mile, and then it smashed head on into another automobile.

The front of the Pinto was crushed immediately. Jackie, Mickie and Kelly Sue — who were sitting in the front — were killed. So was Trista, who was thrown into the front seat by the force of the collision. The boys, though badly frightened, were not seriously injured.

State Troopers found no skid marks at the accident scene and are assuming the brakes were never applied on the Gauthier car. The family has requested an autopsy on Jackie to determine whether the accident may have been caused by a heart attack: but the results of that investigation have not been released.

The driver of the other car, Jon M. Ankerson, 19, of W. Long Lake Road said the accident happened so quickly he was unable to avoid the collision. He was treated and released Friday from Munson Medical Center.

Jackie, Mickie, and Kelly Sue were buried in Solon Township Cemetery. Trista's funeral will be held Tuesday at St. Francis Church. She, too, will be interred in the Solon graveyard.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/19409344/jacquelyn-e-gauthier