Jennifer Anne Milner

Jennifer Anne Milner, 47, passed away on February 6, 2019, in the Otsego Manor Nursing Home in Cooperstown. She was born on December 28, 1971, in Norwich. She was a graduate of Norwich High School and Mohawk Valley State College with a degree in media management and marketing. She worked the early years of her career in various retail businesses but found her true calling in working with rescue teams, serving variously as an emergency dispatcher, organ and tissue donations coordinator, and teaming with police, sheriff and fire rescue departments in Charlotte, NC, Albany and across Central New York, and finally the New York State Department of Transportation in Binghamton. She brought comfort to emergency victims by providing a compassionate voice to put them at ease. She was cited for saving more than one life by providing over-the-phone instructions in CPR, and prevented several tragedies by talking down people who were about to attempt self-harm. Often tapes of her emergency responses were used in training new dispatchers. In addition to her dedication to helping people, Jennifer was known for her open, cheerful personality and creativity. In the sixth grade she began competing in Odyssey of the Mind (then known as Olympics of the Mind) a creative problem solving competition. During five consecutive years of participation she won the prestigious and rarely awarded “Renatra Fusca” creativity award twice. In school Jennifer sang the school choruses participating in the NYSSMA (New York State School Music Association) and earning top grades. She played the violin and viola in the orchestra and also sang and danced in school musicals including “42nd Street”, “Mame” and “The Sound of Music” as well as playing the lead role in a MVCC production of “Juvie”. Jennifer is survived by her parents, Richard and MaryJane Milner of Norwich; her brother, Andrew Milner of Bryn Mawr, PA; her uncles and aunts, Walter and Carol Milner of Arcadia, CA; John and Peggy Milner of Haddonfield, NJ; Eileen Milner of Alexandria, VA; Frank and Gail Gannon of Huston, TX; Peter and Anne Farley of Brooklyn; 12 cousins, Helen Milner, Walter Milner, Jr. and Robert Milner, Jack Milner, Matthew Milner, Margaret Farley, David Farley, Cate Farley, John Farley, Thomas Farley, Paul Farley, Elizabeth Farley, Christopher Farley, Frank Gannon, and Paul Gannon. She was predeceased by her aunt, Rosemary Milner of Havertown, PA. Adopted at five months, Jennifer was welcomed into her extended family whom she loved dearly, and considered herself genetically linked to them, being “switched at birth”. That fantasy came true in the last year of her life through a DNA test, which led to her biological sister, Jo Ann Begley of Binghamton, who eagerly stepped in to provide care and love for her “older (by four months) sister”. They immediately became inseparable and remained so for Jenn’s remaining months, remaining by her side until the moment she passed. A celebration of Jenn’s life will take place at 7:00 pm on Monday, February 11, 2019 at R.J. Fahy Funeral Home, 116 N. Broad St. Norwich. The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Monday from 4:00 pm until the time of service. In lieu of flowers, donations in Jenn’s memory may be made to The American Cancer Society at www.cancer.org