NORTH MUSKEGON, Mich. — From the back porch of the home where he and his wife Julie made a life together, Jack Yeck reflects on the moment he first saw her. He remembers all the build up to that moment like it was yesterday.
"I came home from Vietnam and I had my first surgery. I was in Vietnam in '68 and '69, and in 1970 I went to the VA hospital in Saginaw and I met my wife there. I was on a weekend pass for three days for Memorial Day. I had a cast on my ankle, all the way up to my hip, and I was on crutches," Jack said.
He needed a ride to the hospital, and a friend arranged for Julie to be his driver.
"She came over and I looked at her and she was the most beautiful 19-year-old girl I had ever seen in my life. She had a beautiful, white, long-sleeved blouse. She had long, brown hair. And she had hip hugger, bell bottom, Coca Cola pants on, and I feel right in love with her. I really did."
Julie fell for Jack too. They got married at St. Mary's Cathedral in Saginaw in 1971. That day, they vowed to love each other in sickness and in health. That vow would be put to the test.
"When she was 43, she had a stroke. She was paralyzed completely on her left side, so I cared for her for 27 and a half years, 24/7. I had to get a nurse to come in for five days a week, for five hours a day. The last five years she was bedridden," he said.
Julie needed to be taken to the hospital a lot. At first, Jack used a local transit service to help with those trips, but the expenses were starting to stack up. So, he bought Julie something to make their lives easier.
"It was a Ford wheelchair van. Just beautiful. 65,000 miles on it, which is hardly any. It was a 2010. Julie deserved to have that," Jack said.
"She got one ride in it before she passed away."
Just one month shy of their 50th wedding anniversary, Jack was on his own. He tried for years to sell the van, but he couldn't find a buyer until one night in March when he was watching 13 ON YOUR SIDE. He saw our story on Lindsey Shinaver, a young woman who had lost her vision as an adult and needed a wheelchair to get around.
The staff at Lindsey's adult foster care home, Enriched Living, had made it their fundraising goal for 2024 to buy a wheelchair accessible van. They say such a van would give Lindsey the flexibility to attend public speaking classes and other life-enriching events that happen when transit services are not available.
"I called back to WZZM and said I need to get ahold of these people. I've something I can really give them a heck of a deal on," Jack said.
Jack was able to get in touch with executive director Laurie Labie. She made the trip from Enriched Living's office in Walker to North Muskegon to meet Jack and take a look at the van.
"I immediately just felt this connection with him that we were on the same page of need, of why he purchased it, and why we were needing that van," Laurie said.
"We just fell in love, not only with Jack and his story, but also that he was so inspired by us and what we do and who we are. So we checked it out and we immediately said yes, this is the van that we need for Lindsey."
Enriched Living used community donations to buy the van, and shortly after that, Lindsey got her first ride.
"She was so excited. She was over the top, just all the emotions, very happy. They went to the carwash. They went and got ice cream. They went to the store — just every day life situations that you and I do, that she hasn't been able to do. It's been really great."
Jack's love for his wife has never faded, and with the sale of her van, their love lives on at Enriched Living.
"I just thought it was great to find out that somebody is going to use it and need it like Julie would have needed it. It just made my heart feel great," Jack said.
"She would think this is the best thing I ever did, lately. She would have. She really would have."
Now that Lindsey has a van of her own, Enriched Living is looking to raise money for more wheelchair accessible vans for their other residents. They're holding a golf outing to fundraise on August 2 at Boulder Creek Golf Club in Belmont. Registration for the event is now open.
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