Geraldine Jenkins

Family and friends mourn the passing of Blanche Geraldine (Gerie) Duhe Jenkins. Mrs. Jenkins was born September 21, 1923, in Moss Point, Mississippi, and died June 8, 2012, in Tyler, Texas. Services will be held at 2:00 Tuesday, June 12, 2012, at Stewart Family Funeral Home, with the Rev. Dr. Paul Powell presiding. Visitation will be Tuesday from 1:00 until 2:00. Burial will follow at Rose Hill Cemetery. A devoted wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, Geggie, as she was known to her grandchildren, loved her family, and they loved her. Her specialty was home-cooked meals, especially on birthdays, when the birthday boy or girl planned the menu. Favorites included her melt-in-your-mouth sweet rolls and blueberry-banana pies. Grown-up kids were lucky enough to get the same treatment. Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter were also not-to-be-missed occasions. Her love of children dictated her career. She graduated from the University of Texas in Austin with a degree in elementary education in 1950. At Birdwell Elementary, where she taught for 25 years, she was a highly respected, much requested third-grade teacher. She also taught Beginners in Sunday School most of her adult life, at First Baptist Church and Green Acres Baptist Church. Mrs. Jenkins married the love of her life, “Woody,” also known as Dr. Wiley Jenkins, in 1938. She coped with her grief following his untimely death in 1980 by serving family, friends, and those in need. After her retirement she did volunteer work for Green Acres Baptist Church, East Texas Medical Auxiliary, and Meals on Wheels. She served as an officer in various professional organizations, including Delta Kappa Gamma. She sang and served as an officer in the Green Acres Gloryland Singers. She also took piano and oil painting lessons and produced many lovely paintings of East Texas. Beginning in the early 1990’s, Mrs. Jenkins’ full and active life began to diminish with the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease. Over the next two decades she would fight a courageous battle, amazing all with her unfailingly sweet spirit and tenacity as she clung to life. She smiled and laughed and loved to the end. Today her children arise and call her blessed. A committed Christian, she now stands in the presence of her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In addition to her husband, Mrs. Jenkins was preceded in death by her parents, Mack and Laura Wacile Duhe, and her brother, Mack Duhe. She is survived by her daughter Judy Turman and dedicated son-in-law and caregiver Will Turman, her son Jim Jenkins and wife Pamela, grandchildren Robert Jenkins and wife Janelle, Jed Turman, and Jennifer Turman Smith and husband Kyle; great grandchildren Luke, Macy, Wilson, Sutton, and Marshall Smith, and Jack and Caroline Jenkins, nieces Linda Barre and Jeanine Crow, and a host of other relatives and friends. Pallbearers will be Robert Jenkins, Jed Turman, Dr. Kyle Smith, Paul Turman, David Turman, and Dennis Swift. Her family expresses its deep and heartfelt gratitude to Legacy Hospice and its many dedicated workers who have served our mother so faithfully, lovingly, and professionally these past six years. If desired, memorials may be made to the Hope Foundation or to the children’s programs of Green Acres or First Baptist Church.

Geraldine Jenkins

September 21, 1923 - June 8, 2012