Jeanette Marie Dennis van der Zee, age 81, passed away peacefully on July 26, 2023, in Huntersville, North Carolina. She was born February 14, 1942, in Willards, Maryland to Manuel Willis Dennis and Eunice Brittingham Dennis. Jeanne was married twice in her life, first to Tom van der Zee in 1964 with whom she had two children, Edo and Kathryn, and in 1988 for a short time to Robert Johnston.
After graduating from Pittsville High School in 1960, Jeanne moved to Salisbury, Maryland and worked as a bank teller. In the early 1970s, she moved with her husband and son to Wilkesboro, North Carolina where she remained for almost 20 years. For many years she worked at Wilkes Community College in the business office. During that time, Jeanne earned her Bachelor’s degree from Gardner-Webb University at the age of 45 while working and raising her children. Jeanne was an artist and very talented, particularly with rug hooking and painting. She was a strong-willed woman who charged through many physical and mental hurdles in her life. Right up to the end of her life, despite physical challenges from rheumatoid arthritis, she was fiercely independent and was determined to do whatever it took to remain that way. She was an avid tennis player and was always in search of crab cakes as good as those on the eastern shore of Maryland.
Jeanne is survived by seven brothers and sisters (Carolyn Cheek, Willis Lee Dennis, George Dennis, Sam Dennis, Billy Dennis, David Dennis, and Susan Riley), as well as her children, Edo van der Zee (wife Mary Beth) and Kathryn Brown (husband David). She leaves behind six grandchildren (Pete van der Zee, Jake van der Zee, Ainsley Munn, Cooper Brown, Drew Brown, and Quinn Brown). She is preceded in death by her parents and three brothers (James Dennis, Curt Dennis, and Phillip Dennis).
Please join the family in celebrating Jeanne’s life on Saturday, August 26, 2023 at 11:30 a.m. in a graveside service at the Dennis Cemetery in Willards, Maryland (6955 Powellville Road, Willards, Maryland). Family and friends are welcome to gather following the ceremony at Hotel Atlantic (2 North Main Street, Berlin, Maryland) to share stories and fellowship. In lieu of flowers, the family encourages donations to your local arts council in Jeanne’s name. Visit www.boundsfuneralhome.com to share stories and memories with the family.
