OBITUARIES: Jeanne R. Rechsteiner
Jeanne Raymonde Rechsteiner, 78, passed away on February 7, 2014. She died in her sleep in her home in Groton after a long battle with asthma. Her death came six days after experiencing the 50th anniversary of her marriage to Emil B. Rechsteiner.
Jeanne; beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and friend, was born on July 10, 1935 in New York City, the daughter of R. Ruth Rhinock and Emile T. Rumpp, both now deceased. Jeanne leaves her beloved husband Emil, their son John Rechsteiner with his wife Naoko Kitamura and their children Julian, 15, and Mia, 11, of San Francisco; their son Paul Rechsteiner and his wife Edi Kearns, of New York City, and Nathan Rechsteiner Reynolds, Paul's son, now a Student at the University of Massachusetts. Jeanne also leaves her younger brother Bill and his wife Betsy and their family of Atlanta, GA, and cousin Karen Rupp Coe and husband Sam in Portland, OR.
Jeanne enjoyed her toddler years in Flushing, NY, until their parents moved to Detroit, MI. After World War II, the family moved to Ghent, NY from where Jeanne graduated in 1952 from nearby Chatham High School before enrolling at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NT. After earning a Bachelor's Degree in 1956 Jeanne worked as a laboratory technician in New York hospitals, including a leukemia research facility in Manhattan. After her marriage and the birth of her first son, John, the family moved to Arlington, MA in 1968 and then to Groton in 1986. From here Jeanne commuted for 13 years to her job at Sears & Roebuck in Nashua, NH.
Jeanne participated extensively in Public School Parent/Teacher programs in Arlington, and in programs of Saint Eulalia Church, Winchester. After retirement in Groton she was an active member of the Groton Women's Society; for several years she sang in Edi Thompson's choral group, The Hot Shots, in Pepperell, and she greatly enjoyed performances of the Indian Hill Orchestra in Groton and Littleton.
Paul, her son, put it succinctly: "Mom had lots of friends and not one enemy."
A Celebration of Life Event for Jeanne Rechsteiner will be held on Monday, February 17, at 1 p.m. at The Bull Run Restaurant, 215 Great Road (Route 2) Shirley.The family requests flowers be omitted, but that donations in Jeanne Rechsteiner's name may be made to SmileTrain, the volunteer organization devoted to restoring smiles in children born with cleft palates or hare lips. (Address: Smile Train P.O. Box 96231 Washington, D.C. 20090-6231.)
