Last week I got word that friend of many years, LuAnn Jamison had passed away. Though I hadn’t seen her in many years we had kept up on Facebook.
My earliest memory of LuAnn was from seeing her in plays in
high school. She had a good sense of
timing for comedy and the ability to look innocent and mischievous at the same
time.
She really stood out as Lucy in the high school production
on You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.
During my senior year of high school, I started singing with
the choir at First United Methodist Church in Berkeley Springs, WV. First there was a wonderful Christmas cantata
and the following spring we started working on a program for the United States
Bicentennial – Ring All the Bells.
A side note to all our work on Ring All the Bells, we
were also part of massed choir for a July 4th program in the
Berkeley Springs Park. On July 4th
Eve, a few of us had the brilliant idea to go “4th of July
Caroling”. We started driving around to
homes of various friends and stood outside singing patriotic songs. It was insane. Bonnie Close told us to go home and go to
bed. Les and Louise Guile applauded from
their bedroom window and called out, “Thank you young people!”
There was also another production titled Cool in the
Furnace. Keith Butler played King
Nebuchadnezzar and I narrated as the Prophet Daniel. LuAnn was working on production and spent
half a day driving around looking for dry ice to use in the production. She didn’t find any dry ice, but she did have
some interesting exchanges with a few truck drivers on the CB radio that day.
A group of us from that choir formed an ensemble called the
Family of God Singers and we toured the county and surrounding area singing the
praises of God. We had a lot of fun and
I hope we helped some people along their spiritual journey.
Scattered throughout there were lots of picnics and parties
and so much music. I often joined LuAnn
and our friend Keith Butler in their escapades.
We drove to a friend’s cabin at Keyser Kountry Klub to picnic. We played on the swing set. In a thoughtful moment LuAnn was sitting on
one of the swings looking at the other swing and made the profound statement,
“This swing is lower than that swing.”
Later we were sitting on the porch when Keith decided we
should sing folk tunes. Keith started
singing “Hang down your head Tom Dooley…”, at which point the chair he was
sitting in collapsed under him. LuAnn
jumped up to say, “Ok Keith! Are you alright?” But she had to sit back down
immediately because she was laughing too hard.
(Keith was ok.)
One summer day I was hanging out with my friend Kevin Hurley
when we got a phone call from Lu Ann to help her. A former choir director, Faye Findley Shaw
was returning to Berkeley Springs with her husband Daddy Shaw and some
friends to stay in the Shaw’s long-neglected home. Lu Ann, her sister Kathy, another friend
Craig Barker, Kevin, and I went up to the Shaw home overlooking Berkeley
Springs where Mr. & Mrs. Shaw were already cleaning. We pitched in did our best.
The home had a lovely view looking out over the town. Mrs. Shaw said that when they first moved there,
she brought her mother, whom she called Dearest. She was taking Dearest up some stairs to see
a more dramatic view of the town and was quoting the psalm, “Yea, I shall
lift up mine eyes unto the hills whence cometh my help.” Then, as Mrs. Shaw told the story, Dearest
slipped on the stairs and ended up in the hospital and died.
Following my freshman year of college, I worked for the Town
of Bath, or maybe it was the Chamber of Commerce, to follow up on a project
from the Bicentennial year of 1976. I
worked out of the Chamber office. Lu Ann
and Annette Shives worked for Chamber of Commerce at that time. In the midst of doing our work, I remember a
lot of running around. Lunches at Warm
Springs, or Perry’s Pizza, or little place in Great Cacapon run by Lil and Don
Maggio.
I would often see Lu Ann on my return visits to Berkeley
Springs, but over time my visits were briefer and focused on my family.
Music was always so much a part of what I remember of Lu
Ann. That and her love for her family
and friends. Her love of God and Our
Savior.
One last story.
Lu Ann had many different jobs over the years. Once summer she was working at Jellystone
Park which was a site for campers and travel trailers. It was along the Potomac River. As part of her job, she occasionally had to
dress in the big Yogi Bear costume to greet the campers.
One Saturday night she was driving home through Hedgesville. There’s a very sharp turn in the road and Lu
Ann was maybe driving a little too fast, or maybe she just hit some gravel, but
she spun out and hit a utility pole with a phone booth next to it. She looked at the phone and said,
“Hello. I’ll just use this phone to call
Mom and Dad.”
The curve and the phone were directly in front of the
Hedgesville Fire Department. Folks came
out to assist and Deputy Sheriff showed up.
They got Lu Ann out of the car, and she was still wearing the Yogi Bear
costume – well, not the headpiece. The
Sheriff was asking her about her costume and Lu Ann was explaining that.
Shortly after, Wendell and Nita Mae, Lu Ann’s parents showed
up. They had been in bed watching
television when Lu Ann called, so Wendell threw on some pants and Nita Mae just
grabbed her robe and slippers and the got in the car.
When they got to Hedgesville, Nita Mae jumped out of the car
and ran up to see if Lu Ann was alright.
She was wearing a fuzzy pink bathrobe and matching fuzzy pink
slippers. The deputy looked at Nita Mae,
then looked at Lu Ann in her furry brown costume and said, “This must be your
mother!”
Rest in peace Lu Ann.
Thank you for the friendship, the love, the music and the laughs. Say hi to our many friends as they welcome
you to Heaven. I look forward to seeing
you again.
