Jeanne Marie Wagner

On Wednesday, April 12, 2023, a warm Spring evening, God welcomed home his precious Jeanne Marie Wagner who had been dealing with health issues for many years. She was very lovingly surrounded by family members as well as the compassionate staff of Augusta Health Hospital; and throughout her stay at the hospital, her sister Ilana was her gentle and very dedicated advocate. Jeanne was born on December 29, 1951, in Washington, D.C., the second of 6 children of Joseph E. and Eleanor C. Wagner. They raised their family for five years in Hyattsville, MD, and then settled in Rockville, where Jeanne attended kindergarten, St Jude Elementary School and Robert E Peary High School, after which she then went to Towson College. In June 1955, when she was 3 1/2 years old, visiting with grandparents at their summer cottage in MA, Jeanne and several other family members contracted polio. She became paralyzed from the neck down and was placed in an iron lung, quarantined for weeks, unable to have even family visitors during that time. Finally, sometime in autumn she was reunited with her family at her grandparents’ winter home. In the 10 years that followed, she did physical therapy through Easter Seals organization and also had several operations on her legs to help stabilize her ankles. She wore braces on her legs and used crutches throughout her childhood, generally outside the home; however for many of her adulthood years, she was able to use just a cane. When she was five, she was chosen to be a March of Dimes poster girl for Montgomery County. When she was ten, she was chosen to go for the summer to Camp Greentop in the Catoctin mountains to play and learn with other children with disabilities. With all her challenges and the fatigue she often experienced, she never seemed to complain. Through it all, she became extraordinarily strong physically, learning to stand her ground when teased about her disability, and over the years, she became well-known for her strength, winning untold arm-wrestling challenges with anyone willing to take her on. She was a warm and smiling child, quiet at times but social and friendly, and smart (140 IQ), developing a broad range of personal interests as she grew into adulthood. She was quick-witted, an avid reader, wrote poetry, loved singing and dancing, was excellent at archery and swimming (remember, she swam across Kingston Bay!); she enjoyed traveling and learning; she loved color and beauty - which showed in her clothing styles, home décor, and, of course, in her creativity where she excelled as an artist with watercolor, pastels, color pencils, and crafts she made (so many of which were gifts for others!); she loved music of all kinds and played piano and autoharp; plus she learned to do maintenance on her own car, and also became a skilled carpenter! She was consistently competent in all that she did, including the jobs she had – for example, at the Naval Surface Weapons Center, she received accolades for her accomplishments. She gave of herself to help care for others, particularly her grandmother and parents, but also for the young people she worked with as part of church organizations she joined. She had many friends and acquaintances wherever she lived or worked. She kept letters and photos from so many of them as well as from her family members. However, it was her nieces and nephews that made her sparkle – she not only loved them, she delighted in them. She held them, fed them, rocked them, babysat them, played with them, taught them, took them for rides in her wheelchair, did drawing and crafts and played games with them, and, as they grew, she engaged them in conversations about life in general as well as about their ideas and hopes for their own lives. And, of course, she loved all the pets in her life as both a pet mom and aunt. Jeanne was anchored in God. Her love, knowledge, and trust of Him came from her personal relationship with Him, from her love of Christ her ever-companion, from prayer and openness to the Holy Spirit, and from her constant reading of the Bible. Jeanne’s passing has left such sadness in our hearts and a hole in our lives – but that, truly, is the sacred space created by God just for her. And we will always honor her for the amazing child of God that she is. Jeanne is survived by her siblings and their families: Frances Wagner daughter Jennifer Briggs Karen and Daniel Kube son Timothy with Marcela and daughter Abby son Stefan daughter Leah with Andrew Poelma and daughter Gray Ilana Wagner son Nicholas Mann with Cheryl Mares and son Paxton son Christopher Mann Paula and Ray Schlegel daughter Allison with Chris Balsam daughter Bonnie and her daughter Hannah son John with Joy and children Kyleigh, Bailey, Emily, Jack daughter Tracy Joe and Mimi Wagner son Kenyon son Michael