Joan Jenkins, 83, of Wellston, Ohio, passed away on Sunday morning, January 19, 2014, at Jenkins Care Community following one year of failing health. She was born in Bloomfield Township, Jackson County, Ohio, on February 18, 1930, daughter of the late Joseph F. Rupert and Amy L. Erwin Rupert.
She grew up on her family’s farm and was a 1947 graduate of Bloomfield High School. She attended Rio Grande College and first taught in Jackson. She then taught second grade at South School in Wellston and Bundy Elementary in Wellston. She became a licensed funeral director and worked with her husband at Jenkins Funeral Chapel until his death. She was up early every day to unlock the chapel and make sure the heat or air conditioning was turned on, and she continued to assist at funerals and help comfort families until her illness. She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Wellston.
Besides her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Samuel D. Jenkins, in 2002; her brother, John J. Rupert, in 1978; her sister, Doris Rupert Finch, in 2009; and her son-in-law, Max Klingensmith.
Surviving are two sons, Tom (Chris) Jenkins of Jackson and Sam Jenkins of Wellston; daughter, Diana Jenkins Klingensmith, of Lockbourne, Ohio; two grandchildren, Amy (Tyler) Klingensmith Smith and Chad (Lori) Klingensmith, both of Grove City; three great-grandchildren, Brayden Smith, Jacob Klingensmith, and Emily Klingensmith; and nieces and nephews.
Friends may call at the Jenkins Funeral Chapel in Wellston on Wednesday from 2 until 8 p.m. Services will be Thursday at 1 p.m. at the chapel with John Pelletier CLP and Father Donald Maroon officiating. Her final resting place will be in the Ridgewood Cemetery in Wellston.
The family suggest memorials in Joan’s memory be made to the charity, organization, or church of your choice.
( jenkinschapel@frontier.com)