Louise Jarrell

May 2025 Issue

by Edwina Hoyle Photography (top) by Carrie Friesen Photography
Photography (bottom) by Lindsay Gifford

Glenn Jarrell built his house 69 years ago in a pristine location on the Little Chechessee River. He chose the site because he loved to waterski and enjoyed doing tricks on his skis. He met the love of his life, Louise, and married her 45 years ago. Louise and Glenn’s river home became the gathering site for three generations of family. Louise had four daughters from a previous marriage, and there are now 13 grandchildren, 16 great grandchildren, and 22 cousins – with lots of babies still coming!

One granddaughter, Emily Sewell Marshall, calls her grandmother “Memommy.” She said, “We have a big, big family. I didn’t recognize how unique this is; it’s very special. We all grew up close together with so many family traditions. I’m so grateful. My aunts and uncles were like parents to all of us. The family would gather for Christmas at Memommy’s until two years ago.”

They also spent lots of time on the dock and in the boat. “Memommy taught me and all my cousins to fish off the dock,” Emily said with a smile. Louise added, “I remember one day I had 15 kids on the dock. Little ones and older ones, and I didn’t think anything of it. But now, I realize maybe it wasn’t such a good idea. But if anyone would have fallen in, I would have jumped in after them.”

Louise put Glenn in the drink once. Glenn said they were on the boat shrimping. Louise could always find the shrimp and he would throw the net. “I put him on the shrimp, then I put him in the water,” Louise said, as Glenn quickly added, “She was just cackling and laughing at me in the water.”

Louise considers herself the matriarch of the family. “They sort of look up to me,” she said. And it’s no wonder. Not only does Louise make special memories with all her family, she also makes handmade gifts for all birthdays and Christmas. “One Christmas she crocheted mermaid tail blankets for all the girl cousins,” Emily said.

“My mother taught me to crochet and knit when I was 6 or 8 years old, so I can do it, and I enjoy it,” Louise said. She’s made small hot air balloons, tiny animals, baby booties and blankets, and a beautiful christening gown. One cousin, who has no babies, wanted baby blankets and booties…just in case. So, Louise made blankets and booties for all the girls, packing boxes with three blankets and booties for each of them.

Emily had an American Girl doll that had a canopy bed. She wanted a bedspread like the doll’s, so Louise crocheted one that had every detail, down to the hand-tied tassels.

In the summer of 2018, Emily was browsing on Pinterest and saw a crocheted gown. “It was very Bohemian, and I loved it. I thought it would be a beautiful wedding gown someday. Memommy took one look and started working.”

Louise crocheted 30 squares of antique lace pillow patterns and even crafted a beautiful train for the halter-style gown. By December 2019, the gown was finished. Louise put it on a mannequin for a while, then “put it in a draw in hiding.” In 2022, “The gown came out of the mothballs,” Louise said, when Emily married Foster Marshall.

Emily majored in studio art at the College of Charleston and has commissioned her artwork for years. She had posted a painting of a duck on Instagram, and Foster contacted her to buy a print. He also asked her out on a date on that very first call. They have been married for two and a half years and have a baby boy named Graves.

“I tribute my love of art to my Memommy, my grandfather, and my mother,” Emily said. “We all have the creative gene. Memommy got me a sewing machine at a flea market, and I make special things like horse heads on sticks for parties. My mom, Pam, is super creative. She is a self-taught interior designer and very talented. These days she channels her creativity into cooking. My grandfather is a builder and a boat builder.” Louise’s brothers also get in on creating things in woodworking and turning bowls.

Pam took cake-making classes, and Emily said, “Mom made the most amazing cakes for our birthdays. She makes everything so special.”

Louise and Glenn spend the summers in Boone, NC, where they live off the land. They make their own wine and grow blueberries, raspberries, and apples to make jelly. At 92 years old, Glenn still fishes and shrimps.

For years, Louise used an outbuilding for her multiple sewing machines, including an industrial sewing machine, an embroidery machine, an upholstery machine, along with a collection of fabrics and all her sewing notions. She could make boat cushions for their boats, reupholster couches, sew leather and canvas, and make bed toppers from fabric scraps. Unfortunately, an electrical fire in 2020 burned her building, and she lost most of her equipment.

While the fire was extinguished, nothing will ever extinguish the love of family Louise has for her special brood. This family is full of traditions but making everyone feel so special through her creativity and big loving heart is Memommy’s specialty.