Jean Francis Jenkins passed away on July 8, 2022 in Mason City, IA.
Jean was born in Idaho in 1925 to the late William and Beryl Terry. She was the eldest child of 6: William “Bill”, Don “Bud”, Doris, Joyce & Robert “Bob”. She had many nieces, nephews, and extended family and friends throughout her 97 1/2 years and her many travels.
Jean spent many of her school years in Oregon. Jean graduated from Bend High School in Bend, Oregon in 1942.
Growing up poor during the Great Depression, Jean and her two sisters slept three in the bed. Joyce remembers that Jean always smelled good- like fresh soap and Pond’s cold cream.
Jean was smart, well-read and well-informed – there wasn’t a topic she couldn’t discuss.
She loved going on adventures, swimming and ice skating with her friend Mary. She was always laughing.
Jean was married to John W. Paup and they had 4 children: Judy Ilan, Leslie Paup, Janet Wann, and John M. Paup. She was also married to Robert “Bob” Jenkins. She had 5 grandchildren: Amadis Wann, Ben Wann, Emily Paup, Lindsay Paup, and Maddie Wann. She also had 8 great grandchildren.
Jean was a homemaker, artist, and reader. Jean loved to travel. Her husband John was in the Air Force and they lived many places all over the states. She was very artistic. In many of the homes she lived in she painted murals on the basement walls usually with a snowy mountain and a wilderness cabin. She also painted murals with other people on the walls of institutions where handicapped children or adults were housed.
Jean was the family photographer. She took thousands of slides and pictures of family trips to wilderness areas where her husband John was mountain climbing. She was a great dancer and a super Scrabble player. Crossword puzzles were constantly on the go.
The friends Jean had were for life: Mary, Nancy, Gloria, and Judy Terry, just to name a few. She took her children to see their grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins etc. often driving 1000s of miles. This included Lulabel, their father’s mother, and Mother Jo & Daddy S. Her older grandchildren remember traveling to stay with her in Oregon and visiting relatives and picking blackberries and reading books
Years after she separated from John she met and married Robert “Bob” Jenkins, retired Navy, who predeceased her. They lived in her favorite place: Bend, Oregon which is where Jean’s ashes will be installed in the family urn including Great Grandma Jones, Grandpa and Grandma Terry, her brother Bud and others.
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