Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Among the Peckler family's treasured photographs is this one of Jill Peckler and her father Jim.

Family snow trip ends in tragedy for Pecklers

By Shari Kaplan

What started out as a family vacation to the snow ended in tragedy when three members of a well-known Los Gatos family died in a head-on collision while driving to the Northstar-at-Tahoe ski resort Jan. 17 on Highway 267, just south of the Truckee area.

Jim Peckler, a 52-year-old real estate broker and investor, was driving the family's sport utility vehicle with children Jill, 21, and Jeff, 15, when a pickup truck in oncoming traffic veered out of its lane and struck the Peckler's vehicle, according to a report by the California Highway Patrol's Truckee office.

All three Pecklers died instantly, along with one of the truck's occupants, according to the CHP. The other two truck occupants were hospitalized in serious but stable and satisfactory conditions, respectively. After striking the Peckler's vehicle, the truck also struck a small car carrying four people, one of whom was hospitalized in satisfactory condition.

The surviving Pecklers are wife Judy of Los Gatos and older daughters Jana and Jennifer, both of whom live in Southern California. Judy was originally going to attend the ski trip, but stayed home to work on the family's recently remodeled home instead.

Although CHP officer Ron Wulff said over the weekend that alcohol was "a possibility" in explaining the truck driver's behavior, as of Jan. 20 the CHP had no new information on the continuing investigation. They also did not say which of the truck's occupants had been driving at the time of the accident.

Close friend Lucy Wedemeyer gathered thoughts on Jim, Jill and Jeff from family members and friends gathered Jan. 20 at the Peckler home.

"It's hard to encapsulate the family down to a sentence or two," Wedemeyer said. "They were very giving of themselves and very involved with the community and the school."

"Jim was totally involved, always planning and available for anything that needed to be done. He was very loving and giving," added Wedemeyer.

Jim was described as "everybody's friend" and "a father figure to many." Because he worked out of his home office, he was an eager "room mother" in his children's classrooms. He was a founding member of A Place for Teens, a former president of the Los Gatos Education Foundation and an organizer of LGHS grad night festivities.

He played basketball and softball for four decades in Los Gatos leagues and helped Charlie Wedemeyer coach the 49er Wives Charity Softball Games. He was also volunteer coach for the LGHS girls' Powder Puff football team.

A freshman at Los Gatos High School and board member at A Place for Teens, Jeff was a straight-A student and played on the basketball team. His teachers at Fisher Middle School remember him as being "the most popular boy at school, with no enemies." His ambition was to become a doctor.

Jeff loved snowboarding, cross-country running, roller hockey, video games, telling jokes and watching movies with his father. He was described as "sensitive," "at ease with himself," "sharp-minded," "mature" and "never in a bad mood."

"This boy was a natural leader. He was genuinely respectful of other people and was a gifted people person: articulate, outgoing and sincerely warm and friendly," said LGHS assistant principal Patti Hughes, who knew Jeff and his older sisters.

"All the Peckler kids were like that. Jim and Judy had a good family ethic. It's such a cliché to say this but they 'walked the talk'; they practiced what they preached, and their kids are an example of knowledgeable and loving parenting."

Upon graduating LGHS, Jill attended UC-Davis, where she was studying genetics and was set to graduate this year, after which time she was going to attend medical school. She was named All-American on the Davis track team. At LGHS, Jill won many CCS honors for softball, tennis and rowing and carried a 3.75 GPA.

She was also senior homecoming princess and a board member of A Place for Teens, and she received the "Wildcat Thank-You Award" for her help and devotion to others at school.

"I'd use the word 'sparkling' for Jill. She was what I'd call a very 'real' person. She knew how to be quiet and introspective when she wanted to, and she was always very sincere. When Jill did something, she did it 100 percent. She could really focus," Hughes said.

Family and friends described Jill as "funny," "creative," "stubborn," "happy with herself," "a homebody" and "goal-oriented." She enjoyed making jewelry, quilts and music tapes to give as gifts and often quoted passages from poems.

Memorial services will be held Jan. 23 at 4 p.m. at Calvary Church, 16330 Los Gatos Blvd. A memorial fund is currently being established; for more information, call Joan Henricks at 356-5180, Gladie Rabitz at 354-7357 or Lynne Bauer at 353-2338.