Born May 10, 1959 in Trenton, NJ, he was the son of the late John G. Sr. and Lee H. (DiBonaventure) Yeagle. He and his wife, Terree (ONeill) Yeagle, celebrated their 29th wedding anniversary on August 27, 2017. Sadly, Jake passed away the following January.
Jake was the owner and operator of The Artful Home for over thirty years. He was a graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School, Bristol, PA. He worked in construction until he figured out how to do drywall himself so he went into the Drywall Business. Drywall consists of hanging 4 foot by 12 foot panels of plaster covered by cardboard onto the framing wood of a ceiling or a wall. The sheets are very heavy, unwieldly dead weight and they must be lifted up to a ceiling, held there with one hand while the other hand finds a drywall screw, sticks it into the board at the right place them using a screwdriver or an electric screwgun, drives the screw into the wood just the right amount. If the screw is driven in too far, the cardboard breaks and the screw will not be able to hold the sheet up. When two or three screws are in the other hand can be released and the remaining screws driven in. Each drywall board is held by at least 16 special drywall screws.
After all of the sheets are hung the joints are covered with drywall plaster onto which special paper tape is applied and smoothd out with a special kind of putty knife that’s about 10 inches wide. the plaster is sanded smooth and a second coat of dryeall plaster is applied, sanded and a third and final coat is applied and sanded. There is a lot more to it but that describes it’s essence. It’s very hard work that most people are simply unable to do. Jake did it day after day for years.
When judging by love of family, hard work, integrity, loyalty, honesty and the overall way of living ones truth, John Grover Yeagle Jr, aka Jake was indeed the best of men. A contractor by trade Jake’s skills honed over decades of learning and experience aligned well with his inquisitive mind and quest to perform each task, each job he ever tackled in the most perfect way. Everything measured up, nothing was askew, everything worked whether in work or in home life, Jake sought to understand before he’d make any decision. He wanted all the information, and only then would he affirm his path forward. Not one to jump the gun, always one to study every option and select the one that was absolutely right, no shortcuts. A man of strong will, kind heart and great sense of humor, never would a day pass without Jakes laughter permeating the entire area he was in. His desire to learn about every square inch of territory drove him to meet new folks consistently wherever he would go. Hed talk to and ask questions of strangers and eventually here their stories of people and places that satisfied his avid curiosity and enhanced his knowledge of life across the country. Twelve years ago armed with thousands of tools and the mind of an experienced builder he helped to design and then did build his familys dream house.
Chateau Peach is a monument to Jakes preciseness and quality of workmanship. He thrived on big projects where his mind had to be going in many directions making decisions and delegating tasks in order to create a job well done. At rest Jake studied the sky, the stars, the planets, moons and meteors and more. Within astronomy he would find his most awesome realizations. He should have also been a scientist because whether building a house or a studying the dynamic universe, his mind was at home. He enjoyed road trips and films, museums and parks, the ocean and fishing and drinking rum on a hillside, on the side of a river or a beach by the surf. He knew how to be comfortable and when he was not working or studying or loving his family, he would relax. He travelled by motorcycle from Eastern Pennsylvania to Danali, Alaska and back, a total of about 8,700 miles.
From time to time you could see Jake just take a rest lying on a patch of grass in the backyard. His life was cut far too short but the years he lived were full and a blast and he didnt miss a thing! Of course we wish he’d still be here to watch his family grow and enjoy life but our hope is that his spirit made it far into space and that he is pioneering a new land where one day we will see him again.
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