Frances 'Jackie' Eileen Lane
Larry McMurtry called her “The Last American Cowgirl,” a lofty distinction that will forever set Archer City’s Frances Eileen Lane, better known as “Jackie,” apart from Texas’ illustrious breed of horsewomen.
On July 24, Jackie Lane, 77, died at a rural hospital in Olney of complications stemming from tick fever and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. A celebration of life reception and service will be held Thursday, August 1, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Royal Theater in Archer City, featuring finger food, music and personal remembrances of Jackie’s remarkable life and impact on Archer County.
As an irrepressible cowgirl growing up in Vera, TX, Frances Eileen Coffman was affectionately known as “Cowboy Jack.” She could ride, rope and tame wild horses better than most cowboys in her hometown. Her older sisters, Barbara and Marianne, embraced housewifery and dress clothes while Cowboy Jack, wearing a beat-up sombrero and chaps, competed in the local rodeo circuit, adorning her bedroom with shiny gold buckles, ribbons and other cowgirl treasures.
Jackie met her husband, a handsome bucking horse and bull rider named Jack Lane, on the rodeo circuit. She fell in love and, at age 30, gave birth to her only child, Jud. Jackie’s dreams of becoming a veterinarian (she had enrolled in prevet classes at Tarleton State University) dissolved along with her marriage. But Jackie continued to forge a reputation in Texas and across the nation for her unmatched skills in training and breaking unruly thoroughbreds, including Kentucky Derby contenders.
Broken bones and torn organs from getting bucked off rambunctious horses eventually ended her glory days in the saddle. She spent the last few decades training dozens of women at her ranchette in Archer City, Scrap Iron Stables, to become professional riders and trainers like herself. Jackie never named her favorite pupil. But her granddaughter, Emma Lane, now an equine professional and competitor, is clearly cut from the same cloth as her hard-driving grandmother. Emma is in charge of her grandmother’s “Celebration of Life” service at the Royal Theater.
Besides Emma, her brother, Kolten and five other grandchildren, (Bailey Samaroo, Kendall Dean, Karleigh Dean, Jenna Lane and Aubrey Lane),Jackie is survived by her son, Jud, his wife, Michelle Lane, her sisters, Marianne Rollins and Barbara Moore, and husband, Ray Lynn. She is preceded in death by her parents, Olen and Frances Coffman Sr., and her brothers, Olen Coffman Jr. and Robert Coffman.
One of the highlights of the memorial service will be a photo display of the “Last American Cowgirl’s” epic life as an unparalleled equestrian, trainer and mentor to hundreds of wannabe writers who flock to Archer City each year to attend a nationally renowned workshop in Larry McMurtry’s hometown. One of the peculiar rituals of the workshop was attending a welcoming party at her Scrap Iron Stables, where Jackie sized up each writer like she did her horses, determining whether they had “the right stuff” to make it in the writing world. She maintained that the deep insecurities, phobias and bad habits of many of the writers in the workshop were, in fact, what made them turn to writing in the first place. But she didn't pull her punches. Some of the wannabe scribes, she predicted, would become as outstanding in the writing world as some of her horses in the rodeo world. Others, she concluded, would be wise to take up careers in another field.
End it
