Family, friends say goodbye to Jayci

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By KENDRA WALTKE / Lincoln Journal Star

PRINCETON — A cocoon of community support surrounded the family of Jayci Yaeger as it laid its little girl to rest on Tuesday.

Her white casket was topped with pink and yellow blooms.

Her father, Jason Yaeger, stood beside it, greeting friends before the funeral and, at one point, calling to his 8-year-old daughter, Shelby, and sweeping her up in a hug.

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Jayci Yaeger

Jayci Yaeger

The streets outside Princeton Countryside Alliance church were lined with cars. An overflow crowd huddled inside, with some people standing throughout the funeral.

“Spread Your Wings & Fly Little Butterfly,” read the funeral program.

Some of the mourners gathered at the church had known Jayci; others came because they were touched by her spirit, said the Rev. Nathan Reckling.

In her 10 years, Jayci was loved by many beyond her family, Reckling said, among them  neighbors, nurses, schoolmates, teachers and fellow Girl Scouts, who were there clad in green vests. He recalled Jayci’s love of April Fool’s Day and for teasing doctors, especially one she always greeted with the “loser” sign.

Reckling also directed part of his funeral message to Shelby, sitting in the front pew on her father’s lap.

The minister handed her four flowers, for four points to remember while mourning her big sister.

A white Easter lily, symbolizing eternal life. A yellow daisy, for the joys  of earth and the joys Jayci will know in heaven. A purple iris, signifying that she will be reunited with Jayci someday. A red rose to represent love.

Led by the church youth choir, those gathered sang “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.”

The family, including Jayci’s mother, Vonda, left the church together.

Jason Yaeger seemed unencumbered by prison guards who accompanied him to Princeton from a federal prison camp at Yankton, S.D. It was Yaeger’s fifth trip to Nebraska since Jayci’s condition was deemed terminal last fall. Family efforts to arrange visitations drew national attention.

Following the service, the funeral procession looped around the south side of Princeton and down Jayci Lane, named for the girl who struggled with cancer for seven years.

At the burial, the Rev. Ron Drury of Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church near Hickman said he’d worn a butterfly pin since the day Jayci went to the Monarch House, a Lincoln hospice.

The prayers of the community were a cocoon of comfort for Jayci in her final days, Drury told the mourners. He reminded them of the promise of the butterfly, which emerges from its cocoon more free and beautiful than before.

The children released pink and black balloons, and, in unison, the gatherers said “Goodbye, Jayci.”

Reach Kendra Waltke at (402) 473-7303 or kwaltke@journalstar.com.