Wednesday, August 30, 2023
Mike Jarrett was my brother-in-law, and he possessed some singular and unique qualities. He was a very good athlete, strong, sinewy and talented. I played football with him and he was a great runner and quarterback. He could play darts very well too and, on a bet he made with me, in the same game, threw a bullseye with both his right and then his left hand, a feat I’ve never seen anyone else do, or even try. Mike was rugged with the earthiness necessary to be an expert mason and a good fisherman. He built the chimney in a home I constructed and today that brickwork is the showpiece of the building. Mike was also a collector of many antiques, both ship’s paintings but especially old cast iron frying pans which he polished and sorted. He must have left behind 200 in his home, and I’d say that collection might be worthy of the Guiness Book of World Records!
Still, the most important thing Mike ever did in his life was to marry my sister Andrea, and father my niece Audrey, who still carries his surname to this day. Not only did his daughter inherit some of his good looks, and brains, and confidence, but also his athletic ability, determination and earthy grittiness. She is an expert downhill skier, and was a terrific high school soccer player. Her team played in the Class B Maine State Girls Championship in 2003. In an overtime tie breaker that day, she not only scored a goal, she absolutely drilled the penalty kick she took. Mike was sitting next to me at that game, and it was undoubtably the proudest and happiest moment in both of our lives. His daughter was never squeamish, and as a 5 yr old, would dig her fingers in dirt to grab a worm and stick it on a fishhook. She has birthed foals in horse pastures in Australia and New Zealand. Truly, everything she has ever done she has done very well. She is a diamond gem shining in a field of apple trees. Now she and Conor have a baby son Magnus. I will always be grateful to Michael Jarret for this and remember him well.
Mark Gregory
