Jackie was born in Summit, NJ on May 23, 1958 to Eugene F. and Joan (Reichart) Erbin. She was their third child and their first daughter. She attended grade school at St. Patrick's and played with her older brothers and neighbor children in the tree lined neighborhoods. The greatest joy of her young life was to spend her summers with her family at her maternal grandparents' home on Conesus Lake, the smallest of the Finger Lakes in upstate New York. She loved her grandfather Joe, who called her "Puddy". They would travel together by car, trying to get lost on the farm roads, all for the adventure and for the joy of being together. Poppy, her grandmother, would scold Grandpa Joe to the delight of Jackie and the other children. So much of Jackie's life had a reverence to these grandparents. Later, at the end of college, Jackie stood alongside Grandpa Joe as his wife, Poppy, died. She stayed with him and kept him company, reminding him of the love of his whole family. Not long after, she kept the watch as Grandpa Joe died.
Jackie's family moved to Salt Lake City in 1969. The move was recorded in the children's memories as a drive in an enormous station wagon, stopping and swimming in the motel pools every summer night. In Salt Lake, she attended Rosalyn Heights Elementary School, Hillside Junior High and Judge Memorial Catholic High School.Jackie was very popular. She was a student body officer and a stellar student. She was an athlete. She skied with the boys in her class. She was a gymnast.
She attended Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She majored in Chemistry, displaying a bent for hard work and hard sciences. She was on the ski team. She worked during college, running campus dining halls. She made good friends whom she kept for a lifetime.
Jackie knew from the time she was a small girl that she wanted to practice medicine. She followed that dream to the University of Utah, where she earned her Physician Assistant degree. She worked in the Kamas area and in the Kaiparowits camp outside of Delta, Utah. She went to medical school at the University of Utah and earned her prized M.D. in 1988. She wanted to pursue Pediatrics and she matched at the University of Rochester, one of the most esteemed residency programs for Pediatrics in the country. Jackie wanted to work with children because they are not malingerers. They are authentic about their hurts. Herself, Jackie never complained about the small things.
Treating a dangerously ill infant in the late summer of 1989, Jackie contracted Meningitis, which turned into Encephalitis. She was in a coma for 14 days. She struggled to emerge from this prison with as few impairments as possible. She lost the vision in her left eye and the hearing in her left ear. More than this, she suffered from intractable headaches most of the rest of her life. There was some relief, but a good part of almost every day involved serious pain and nausea. She didn't complain very much. She had courage. Her headaches limited her further practice of medicine. She worked at the University Pediatric outpatient clinic. All of us who knew her benefited from her medical advice and counsel. Had fate permitted it, she hoped to return to active medical practice once her children were in school.
Jackie married Bob Steiner on May 18, 1991. They were blessed with a daughter, Francesca Marie Steiner on March 17, 1997. Francesca filled every moment of Jackie's life with joy, even through the headaches. Jackie wanted to give Francesca a sibling so that she would not be alone when she got older. Jackie gave birth to a gorgeous little boy, James Reichart Steiner on January 25, 2000. She called him Jamie and nurtured him to life from the great depth of her soul. She loved Francesca and Jamie as a completely selfless mother.
Besides Francesca and Jamie, Jackie is survived by her husband, Bob, who loved her. She is survived by her parents, Gene and Joan, to whom she owed her life and from whom she could never be parted. Jackie has two beloved aunts, Jackie and Jeanne, each Sisters of Mercy. They were her friends and confidants. Jackie has three brothers, Gene, Tom, and Joe; and two sisters, Lisa and Joan Marie. Jackie leaves sisters-in-law, Donna, Nancy, Sheila, and Alice and brothers-in-law, Doug, Mike and Kevin. She leaves 12 nieces and nephews, whom she loved to see grow. Jackie was happy that Francesca and Jamie would have cousins, as she had never known cousins.
Jackie was full of God's life. She lived with all her might. She left many of us exhausted. We feel pain because we loved her so much and she loved us so much. Thank You, Jesus, for Jackie, our mother, wife, daughter, sister. In God's time may we join her in His presence.
Jackie's funeral will be held on Saturday, January 29, 2000 at the Cathedral of the Madeleine, 309 E. South Temple at 10 a.m. Interment will follow at Mt. Calvary Catholic Cemetery. Friends may call on the family at Neil O'Donnell's Mortuary, 372 East 100 So., Friday from 7-8 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to the Good Samaritan Program at the Cathedral of the Madeleine, The Traveler's Aid Society Homeless Shelter and the University of Utah Medical School.