Jacob Denton Gettings

Jacob "Jake" Denton Gettings
Jerseyville - Jacob "Jake" Denton Gettings, Sr., passed away on Sunday, December 29, 2024. He would have been 95 on March 15. Jake was the devoted husband for 71 years of Louise (Wilson) Gettings; loving father of Elayne (Guy) Willis, Jay (Patti) Gettings, and Amy (Roy) Hughes; cherished Granddad of Emily (Josh) Samuels, Mitch (Karen) Willis, Libby (Dan) Durley, Cody Hughes, and Rose Hughes; adoring Great-Granddad of Harper and Holden Samuels, Ozzy Durley, and Hazel Willis; beloved son of the late William "Bill" A. Gettings, Sr. and Hazel M. Claflin Gettings, dear brother of the late Lee (Grace) Gettings, the late Billy (Doris June) Gettings, Marguerite (the late Russell) Sinclair, and Dale (Nancy) Gettings; and uncle of many nieces and nephews. Jake was born on a spring day at the start of the Great Depression. One of five children born to Bill and Hazel, he attended the one-room Lone Star School and was a member of Jerseyville High School's class of 1948, where he was well-known as a class clown who kept his teachers on their toes. Jake served four years as a mechanic in the United States Air Force and was a Korean War veteran. He married Louise Gettings on April 25, 1953, at the Jerseyville United Methodist Church, and together they raised their children first in Eldred (Spanky) and later in Jerseyville. Jake's children and grandchildren will tell you he was one of the strongest men they knew. He could build or fix anything, from farm equipment to cars to airplanes, and he flew his own Cessna and Mooney Executive recreationally for years. A true steward of the land, Jake's farm was always on his mind. Louise and the children saw Jake work the fields for hours through hot summer days and operate combines past midnight on chilly fall nights in open-air tractors. He was one of the first in the area to try no-till planting by double-cropping soybeans. Alongside his son, he would be outside from early each morning until late at night – long after the sun had set. Jake looked forward to annual turkey hunts in Missouri, introducing his family to the sport. Some say you get out of the land what you put into it, and Jake did exactly that. Never one to stay idle, Jake tried his hand at real estate in the 1970s. That same decade, he also won the Funks G. Hybrid award for producing 200 bushels of corn per acre. In the 1980s, he and Louise owned and operated Jerseyville Coin Laundry and Dry Cleaning. Jake was a Grand Master at the Fieldon Masonic Lodge, an active member of both the Elks Lodge and the Moose Lodge, and a Westlake County Club member. Alongside his father and his son, Jake helped build the Jerseyville Peace United Church of Christ. If you ran into Jake around town, it might have been as he was enjoying a cup of coffee and the company of friends at Fran & Marilyn's or at Hardee's. Jake was funny and quick-witted. He always had a smile, a gleam in his eye, and a joke at the ready. You might have known him as a clever and charming storyteller, an honest and loyal friend or a man of faith and tradition. You might have known him as superstitious – he never started a new field on a Friday, and you certainly never saw him exit through a door he hadn't used to enter. Jake built his own homes on County Road, Westlake Golf Course, and Wolves Crossing Golf Course, and he golfed both courses regularly for years. Together, Jake and Louise enjoyed wintering at La Floresta, a golf course retirement community in Mercedes, TX, where he participated in golf tournaments, played cards, looked forward to a Tom and Jerry at Christmastime, and enjoyed slices of "hot and cold" pie (warm pie served alongside ice cream) with friends. He always asked for a piece a bit bigger than the one cut before. Already, more has been written here than Jake would want said about him. But this is being written by the people he loved and who loved him, the ones who will miss him terribly. So if you find yourself thinking about Jake, do as they will: take a drive by his old farm and feel the breeze or the sun, or listen to the rain. Soak in the smells and enjoy the sounds. At night if you look to the sky, admire the lights shining through the stars. Enjoy what has been given to us. Until we meet again, we'll see Jake in the funny papers. Visitation will be held on Friday, January 3, 2025 at Crawford Funeral Home in Jerseyville from 10 a.m. until time of Masonic Services at 11:45 a.m. Funeral Services will immediately follow. Burial will take place at Kane Cemetery, with the Jerseyville American Legion Post #492 conducting full military honors. Memorials are suggested to the Jerseyville Peace United Church of Christ building fund. Memories may be shared with the family by visiting www.crawfordfunerals.com.