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Just got word from Yoder that Lola passed away this morning at 11AM. She had been in and out of the hospital for the last few weeks and had been in a private rehab home. Her brother was with her and services etc. are pending.
How unfortunate for us, we will really miss her. Her and Rick are now together again and that is good. She was always very positive and encouraging to everyone. Our prayers are with her and her family.
I was just thinking of Lola this weekend. I called & wrote her fairly regularly after Rick died but then had not contacted her for a long time and was thinking I needed to get in touch again.
Thanks for letting us know, Kent.
Victor and her brother are taking care of arrangements. I would not be certain that they are getting her mail at this time. Once I hear more from Victor, Janice or John Eckman, I will post it here.
Art is a technique of communication. The image is the most complete technique of all communication.
Claus Oldenburg
You are invited to visit www.carolchapel.com
My sincere condolences to all her family and friends. Lola is a very sweet and dear person. It was always a pleasure to talk to her. She, as well as Rick, always had a tidbit of advice or news about something. She always made you feel like you were in some sort of important "inner circle". Rick and Lola were a team that created and ran Fine Gold Sign and Esoteric Sign Supply. It wouldn't have existed without both of them. They truely loved each other. We had a tag team phone call with her this last September during Ron's Micromeet. It was nice talking with her, she sounded well.
All the Conclaves I attended down at Fine Gold Sign Co. will be the most treasured of memories. When you walked in the front door for that weekend, you could leave all your troubles behind. I enjoyed every moment there. The atmosphere of fellowship was like none other.
I first became interested in reverse glass work after aquiring Bob M's book on glue chipped glass signs. Through that, I got the Gold Leaf Techniques book. In there, it listed Esoteric Sign Supply as a source of materials. I quickly became a new customer. While ordering products early on, Lola informed me of Rick's weekend workshop, which I quickly signed up for. I brought with me my first piece that I had done, strictly from the books. I receive great encouragement from both Rick and Lola. At a later call, Lola said, in her quiet way, "We host an annual meeting of sign people interested in this craft, it's invitation only, but if you'd like to come, you're welcome." That was one offer that I didn't pass up on. That was conclave number four, and I was able to make it every year, except for one, when my daughter was born.
I was bitten by the gilded glass bug and have been going ever since. I had great teachers in Rick and Lola, whose greatest lessons were, have a passion in life, be kind to all people, and share what you know and learn.
Very well put Larry.You have said what we all feel. She certainly was a special person. I am glad now I phoned her to arrange a visit to see her with John Studden back in July.We spent an hour chatting about Rick and the business they once sharred......... She is probably telling Rick off already! .some very fond memories for all of us.
Dave
What a great person Lola was. Think what of might happened if Rick and her never met up. There might of never been a Dr Finegold. She helped keep Rick on the straight and narrow. She also was a sweet person. In the later years, the Conclaves were hard for Lola but she still was a great host. I remember looking at all this ephemera, decals and such that Rick had collected. Lola would sit there and say that someday they would bury Rick with that stuff. It didn't happen but it was a funny thought. It was a real pleasure knowing her.
Lola Fay Jackson, Mama Fine Gold and Shepherd....you'll be missed. I made it a point to call her several times a year and in particular on the anniversary of Rick's death....and I guess for us all (certainly me) this is really the closing of what I considered to be a "golden era" or maybe halcyon days. I arrived late to the Letterheads movement and remember clearly my first encounters with Rick and Lola. She was always a force and a powerful spirit during the years I knew them.
I have many fond memories from eating chinese at their favourite spot, the lemons and oranges that seemed to appear in my order from Fine Gold, and countless other small things. I'll always think of her with Rick holding her right arm and me the left, walking down to one of the piers in Santa Barbra during a summer music festival, talking life and signs (the two are hard to separate).. and taking in the incredible architecture and bands playing on every corner. Life was pretty great.
A particular memory is the Indiannapolis meet. Rick and Lola had a Blazer (i think) rental car and a half dozen of us had decided to take in the last day of the Antique Advertising Show. Mike Jackson and I were in a car right behind them. The Blazer bobbed and weaved from one side of the road to the other and all the while you could see the giant frame of Glawson animaitedley talking away at the diminutive figure of Lola in the passenger seat. Him from the shoulders up and her, half disappearing behind the head rest....with the occasional left turn of the head, which in turn, would set the Blazer into more sudden course corrections. I think that small vignette spoke volumes about their relationship and in the last few years made it more difficult for Lola to make a "course correction".
And so ends a chapter in that great golden book of my life that I will quietly take pleasure in reviewing when my time comes to an end. "The story of Rick and Lola" and the wonderful memories and friendly faces that encompassed their lives and enriched my own.
As recently posted, I had just sat with Lola in her house. I want everyone here to know that although she was dealing with age related discomforts, Lola was bright and aware as ever and was reminiscing about Rick and those who graced the door of Fine Gold Sign Co. I feel good that she was speedily sent to be with Rick.
Pat
Lola had a conversion experience that changed her path. That was the glue of her marriage and the street mission they had to spread the message that changed them. Along with the message was a love and caring that validated the words. That love was not a gushy love with no power, but tough enough to take in street people and druggies. At Rick's memorial there were others that referred to themselves as "Lola's Boys." Lola's faith was spread through Fine Gold and her purpose in life expressed to those of us that would move in close enough to feel it. Most all of us that knew her have been prayed for by her without us often knowing it. She was equally skilled at receiving as she was a giver. She protected Rick in a way that showed her fears and we got to see the human side of her as well. I may miss her and the era she represented for us, but the impact of her will continue in most of our lives. Thank God for Lola Grey.
Mendocino, California
"Where the redwoods meet the Sea"
Services for Lola Grey are scheduled for Next Friday, 1PM PST with viewing on Thursday 1-8PM. Location is the same Green Hills Mortuary with burial just down the hill from Rick in Green Hills Memorial Park and next to Russell. Victor will post details when they are finalized but I wanted to at least answer all the questions I have been getting with some info.
If anyone has the message from Lola's memorial, please provide an email address to those wishing a copy, and share it privately with the understanding that it is not to be posted.
Long before Lola's passing, she specifically asked that her eulogy not be posted on the boards.
The reason is unknown, but in honor of Lola, please respect her request.
Denver Chapter of the Letterheads