Jean Fenyn

MADISON - Jean A. Fenyn died peacefully on December 7th, 2016, at Serenity Homes in DeForest, Wisconsin. She would have celebrated her 90th birthday on December 15. The end of her journey through life was accompanied by her two daughters and ninety red roses at her bedside.

Jean was born to Alice and James Ralph Claiborne in 1926 in Walthill, Nebraska, and grew up in the town of Shenandoah, Iowa. Her father was a contractor and her mother taught piano and was a school teacher. Jean was the oldest of eight children, and she had many household and childcare responsibilities. She did enjoy being part of a large family, and later in her life told her daughters many entertaining stories about growing up during the Depression.

After graduating from high school in 1944 and starting college in Omaha, Nebraska, Jean spent some time working for Boeing in Seattle and eventually made her way to Chicago. She worked as a secretary for a law firm while attending evening classes in business and psychology at Northwestern. Jean met her future husband, Jack Fenyn, at a church dance and they married in 1952. Jean continued to have a career, working for an oral surgeon while her daughters were very young. She and Jack divorced in 1961 and she raised her daughters in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago.

Jean spent the next thirty-five years being a medical practice manager for a large family practice and an infertility specialty practice in downtown Chicago. She enjoyed interests in art, music, dance and history, especially Civil War history and family genealogy. Jean liked staying in touch with her family who mostly lived on the West Coast, and her many friends in the Chicago area. In 1996 Jean retired and moved to Madison, where she became a first time homeowner, and enjoyed having visitors and being close to her daughter Kathy and her husband Jim, and her nephew Rob Pierson and his wife Joyce and their family. Jean's life became more challenging as her health deteriorated, and her family is very appreciative of the care and comfort Jean received while residing at Serenity Homes in Stoughton and DeForest, WI. They also wish to thank the care team from Heartland Hospice and the South Madison Coalition for Aging.

Jean is survived by her brothers Nick and Carl Claiborne, her daughters Karen Fenyn, and Kathleen (James) Herman, numerous nieces and nephews including Rob (Joyce) Pierson and his family. She was preceded in death by her parents Alice Ricks and James Ralph Claiborne, her siblings Don, Betty Morgan, Marilyn Toland, Colleen Pierson, and James, and son-in-law Robert Whiters.

A memorial service will be at 12:00 Noon on Saturday April 29, 2017 at CRESS FUNERAL HOME, 3610 Speedway Road. Visitation will be from 11:00 until the time of the service at the funeral home on Saturday.

Memorial contributions may be made to Paralyzed Veterans of America and the Alzheimer's and Dementia Alliance of Wisconsin.


Cress
Funeral and Cremation Service
3610 Speedway Road Madison
608-238-3434