Jeanne Aileen Fountaine Murrill, most recently of Clearwater, Florida, passed away on February 17, 2018. Jeanne was born on July 31, 1923 in Logansport, Indiana. She was the first child of Frank and Mylrea Fountaine. She asked for a baby brother who was born exactly 5 years later. As Mom told us many times… “As kids Robert and I climbed trees, jumped rope, and played games like sheep run, Red Rover, hide-and-seek, and baseball when we could find a ball and a bat.”
In high school she was active in forensics especially debate. “In those days debate and oratory were popular extra-curricular activities countrywide. Almost every weekend we traveled to or hosted a forensic tournament.”
Jeanne loved science and math in school and decided she would like to be a chemist because she had read about all the scientific discoveries and it sounded like an exciting way to spend your life. “I started college at Purdue in September 1941. On December 7, our lives changed. Purdue canceled all vacations, classes were held year-round, and you graduated as soon as you finished your requirements. It was at Purdue that I met Randy on a blind date. His graduation was moved up to Dec 1942, after which he enlisted in the army.”
When Jeanne graduated in 1943, she took a job as a chemist with Phillips Petroleum Company in Bartlesville, Oklahoma where she worked during the war. Randy and Jeanne were engaged before he left for England and then Normandy where he participated in the D-Day invasion. They were married on his return from France, on August 14, 1946.
In 1948, after graduate school, Randy and Jeanne moved to Orange, Texas where Randy started a 38-year career with the DuPont Company. They lived in Texas, Delaware, and for 14 years in Parkersburg, West Virginia. Jeanne was very active in the Parkersburg community. Among other things, she volunteered to organize the citywide Learn To Swim Program in cooperation with the American Red Cross. She was twice elected to a board to re-write the city charter; she was on the Arts Council, the Library Board, and was an officer and active member of the Junior League. In 1968, The governor appointed Jeanne to the West Virginia Library Commission.
She was a talented and creative craftsperson who taught herself copper enameling, silversmithing, and bead working. She was most accomplished at embroidery, needlepoint, and knitting. She made beautiful gifts for friends and for everyone in the family.
In 1969 DuPont transferred them back to Wilmington, Delaware where Jeanne worked with several projects in the Information Technology Department at DuPont and served on the board of the local library.
Upon retirement, Jeanne and Randy literally travelled around the world and then some. They shared their adventures and their love of travel with their extended family. In 2007, they retired to Regency Oaks in Clearwater, Florida where they involved themselves in the community. As the consummate volunteer, Jeanne and her friends at Regency Oaks clocked more than 3000 hours in the Morton Plant Hospital sewing room.
Above all, Jeanne was proud of her family. She was very proud of her three children and the partners they chose; Mary and her husband, Don North; Steve and his wife Elizabeth; Karen and her husband, Brian Hennigan. Jeanne enjoyed a close relationship with her nine grandchildren and the partners the chose, and she was especially proud of her great-grandchildren… all 11 of them.
Jeanne was preceded in death by her husband, Randall Murrill; her brother, Robert Fountaine; and her niece, Elise Fountaine Branson.
She is greatly missed by her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren as well as her in-laws, cousins, nieces, and nephews.
In lieu of flowers please consider a memorial contribution to Regency Oaks Employee Appreciation Fund or the Clearwater RCS Food Bank.
A celebration of her life will be held in the Town Hall of the Regency Oaks community in Clearwater, FL on Saturday, March 10, 2018 at 1:00 PM followed by interment at Sylvan Abbey.
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