Jeanne Elizabeth (Jenkins) Eaton
EATON, Jeanne Elizabeth (Jenkins), 76, FLINTSTONE, MD & PRESQUE ISLE, at Maryland, July 11, 2011. Arrangements are in the care of Upchurch Funeral Home, P.A.
FLINTSTONE, MD & PRESQUE ISLE – Jeanne Elizabeth (Jenkins) Eaton, formerly of Presque Isle, passed away on Monday, July 11, 2011, at the Western MD Regional Medical Center, with her family by her side.
Born April 25, 1935, in Presque Isle, she was the daughter of the late Edward Gilbert Jenkins and Edith Gertrude (Smith) Jenkins.
Jeanne Eaton graduated from the Eastern Maine General Hospital School of Nursing in Bangor, ME, with six months affiliate training in Boston.
She met her husband, Earl Eaton, while he was stationed in Presque Isle Air Force Base, and they married in 1956—the year she graduated from nursing school. They then moved to Maryland, where she took her state boards and went to work for the then, Memorial Hospital in Cumberland. At that time, the polio outbreak was bad and she worked with the tank respirator known as the “Iron Lung.” She left Memorial Hospital in 1968 to work for Doctors Brodell & Dawson at Children’s Medical Group (CMG), where she was known as Nurse Jean or “the nurse who gave the allergy shots.” She was a forerunner in the nursing field, as she achieved Pediatric Nurse Practioner status. Jeanne retired from CMG in 1997, but continued on in medicine. With many medical conditions herself, she entered into several research programs with her doctors at Johns Hopkins University, allowing the use of many medicines and treatments on herself, not only to help her condition, but also to advance medicine. She was dedicated to the end in her belief of medicine.
During all this, she always found time and loved to be with her kids and grandkids. She was a devoted Christian woman who belonged to God and attended Emmanuel Episcopal Church most all of her life. She found time to devote to the Order of the Daughters of the King; St. Catherine’s Circle; the International Order of Rainbow for Girls; and, was president of the Queen City AACA Car Club from 1990-1995.
She is survived by her husband of 55 years, Earl Franklin Eaton, Jr.; her son, Earl “Ned” E. Edward Eaton and wife, Cynthia, Burke, VA; her daughter, Elaine Elizabeth Sipes, and husband, Doug, Cumberland; her sister, Lois Mitchell, and husband, Gene, Ft. Walton Beach, FL; sisters-in-law: JoAnn Michael, Mary Lou McGill, Patty Zinn, and Sherry Smith; brother-in-law, Robert McCullough; grandchildren: Brandon Eaton, Danny Eaton, Daren Sipes, Kristy Richmond, Dustin Sipes, and Jessica Eaton; great-grandchildren: Kyle Eaton, Kaitlin Eaton, Grace Eaton, James Eaton, and Justin Eaton; and several nieces and nephews.
Family and friends were received at the Upchurch Funeral Home, P.A., 202 Greene St., Cumberland, on Thursday, from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. The funeral service was conducted in Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 16 W Washington St., Cumberland, on Friday at 10:30 a.m., with Rev. Edward C. Chapman, officiating. Interment was in M.S.V.C. Rocky Gap. Memorial contributions may be made to Emmanuel Episcopal Church. Condolences to the family may be posted after Jeanne’s obituary at www.upchurchfh.com
