About nine miles from the Sanctuary One Care Farm, Fran Chase and her husband, Jim, lived on a lovely, well-kept property for about 10 years.
A white fence surrounded an impressive field, wreathed by trees, a stretch of Upper Applegate Road pushing past. Out back was a swimming hole and zip line Jim installed.
Drive about 15 minutes south from the property and you’re at Sanctuary One’s front door.
“All those white vinyl fences, my husband dug every hole,” Fran says. “It was beautiful. It was sort of a paradise for us.”
In 2014, the couple would leave the postcard-grade slice of the Applegate Valley for Brookings on the Southwest Oregon Coast. Sanctuary One had been up and running for about seven years.
But when Jim passed away at 91, he would get to return to the Applegate Valley he’d helped build a life in. Through Sanctuary One’s Living Arbor Memorial program, Fran had a tree planted in his memory.
The program gives those interested the option to either donate $1,000 and plant a tree in memory of a loved one or name a Learning Garden Raised Bed for $2,500. More information is available on our Living Arbor Memorial page or by emailing info@sanctuaryone.org.
“I thought, ‘That’s what I want for my Jimmy.’ You do such a wonderful job for the animals,” Fran says. “I thought (planting a tree) was significant. On our property, we must have planted 50 to 100 trees.”
Jim Chase’s sassafras tree will eventually provide shade and shelter to our pond pasture friends as it grows.
An accompanying plaque reads, “In loving memory of Jim Chase, and of our happy times in the Applegate. Fran.”
Fran chose to donate because she and Jim admired Sanctuary One’s mission, a three-pronged focus that says animals, people, and the earth are better together, working in harmony. Farm staff and volunteers care for abused or rescued animals, try to get some of them adopted out to forever homes, and work the farm and 55 acres of land it sits upon. In turn, they receive a bounty of mental and physical health benefits.
It’s a place Fran thought perfectly suited as a memorial for Jim.
“We just thought it was such a neat idea; so many animals are abused,” Fran says. “I just felt it was an example of what a wonderful place the Applegate was.”
