Irene McCloskey Jenkins

Irene McCloskey Jenkins, age 74, of Rancho Cucamonga, California, died April 29, 2016 in Rancho Cucamonga, California. She was born June 20, 1941 in Hodge, Louisiana, and lived in Tennessee for 38 years before moving to California to be near her son in 2011. She was an elementary school teacher in the public school system for nearly four decades before she retired from the Williamson County, Tennessee, school system in 2001. She was a member of St. Peter and St. Paul Catholic Church in Alta Loma, California. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 3 years from University of Southwestern Louisiana, she completed her masters degree at the University of Louisiana, Monroe. Her passion was teaching young children to read and she won a number of recognitions for her work. She also taught special education at times during her long career. She enjoyed art and music, as well as reading, travel, and spending time with friends, family, and her beloved grandchildren.

Mrs. Jenkins is survived by a daughter, Amy Jenkins Smith, of Franklin, Tennessee, and a son, Dr. Timothy Daniel Jenkins (Valerie), of Rancho Cucamonga, California. She is also survived by three sisters and their spouses, Sally and Taylor LaSalle of Metarie, Louisiana, Nancy and Dr. Thomas Jantz of Franklin, Tennessee, and Mary and Kenneth Gossett of Riva, Maryland. Irene was also blessed with four grandchildren. She was preceded in death in 2008 by her husband of 43 years, Glenn Robert Jenkins; and her parents, Ida Boudreau McCloskey (1914-2006) and Patrick Archibald McCloskey (1915-1962), of Opelousas, Louisiana.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Peter and St. Paul Catholic Church in Alta Loma, on Thursday May 5, 2016, at 12:00 PM. A visitation will be held at Marshall-Donnelly-Combs Funeral Home, 201 25th Street North, Nashville, Tennessee on May 21, 2016 at 9:30 AM. Burial will follow in Calvary Cemetery, 1001 Lebanon Pike, Nashville, Tennessee at 11:00 AM.

Service arrangements are with Draper Mortuary in Ontario, California.