Jeanette Marie Deveraux

     Jeanette Marie was born at home, a fraternal twin, on October 25, 1930, to Lessie LaMar (Plank) and Rodney LaRoy Sears, in Seattle, King County, Washington.  She had two older sisters, Iva Edith Ottersbach, Roberta La Mar Endres, and her twin brother, James Rodney Sears, all of whom have passed on before.  She is preceded in death by her husband, Don Lee Deveraux, and her son, Raymond James Deveraux.  She is survived by her two daughters, Edna Lamar Buchanan, and Jeanette Lorraine (Bryant) Jones.  Her 10 grandchildren; Oliver Spencer, Crystal (Christopher) Bolt, Sharon Jones (Joe), Mariah Jones (Mike), Dustin Miller, Joshua (Victoria) Jones, Carrie Buchanan (James), Cherisse (Ian) Papenfuss, Elizabeth (Robert) Johnston and Finley Buchanan.  15 great grandchildren, and several step-grandchildren and step-great-grandchildren.

     Most of Jeanette’s childhood was spent growing up in the little house she was born in, in South Seattle, up on Beacon Hill on Hudson Street.  In 1944, when she was 14, she and her family moved to the South end of Kent up on the East Hill.  She graduated her alma mater, Kent-Meridian High School, in 1948.  A few years after graduating she met and married her sweetheart, Don, who at the time was enlisted in the United States Air Force Air National Guard, one month before her 21^st birthday, on September 25, 1951.  In the Summer of 1954, Don baptized Jeanette into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

     Interestingly, one of the places Jeanette and Don lived was in that same little house in South Seattle up on Beacon Hill on Hudson Street, where Jeanette’s parents lived when she was born.  Mom gave birth to both of us girls, in Providence Hospital, while living there.  In 1958 while the three of us kids were still young, mom and dad had a house built right next door to grandma and grandpa’s (mom’s parents) up on the East Hill of Kent, and the five of us moved away from that infamous little house.  And sadly, our sweet little house ended up being plowed through to make way for Interstate 5.  Mom was blessed to be home raising us children most of our childhood, without having to work outside our home.  However, there was a period of time during our youth when grandpa, her dad, got her a job where he worked, at Libby McNeil Libby Cannery in downtown Kent, canning beans and sauerkraut and working in the lab.

     Jeanette was a devoted and loving wife, a wonderful mother, aunt, grandmother, and great grandmother and a wonderful cook.  Both she and her companion lived a life full of adventures and fun. They enjoyed traveling, whether it be going on a road trip to somewhere special like Disneyland or the Redwood Forest in California or going to see family in Utah or California, or camping, we always did it with family or friends.  She loved to go out dancing with dad.  They would go out dancing on the weekends together with their friends.  They joined a bowling league with a couple of friends and enjoyed doing that for many years.  All of Mom’s siblings lived here nearby and sometimes all the families would gather for a Christmas party or go to the beach on Whidbey Island, and to other fun parties where all of the families would gather together and maybe get a ride in our Uncle’s airplane.  A couple of her siblings had a place at the ocean, so fun!  Sometimes mom would go bake pies with her sister while us kids played.  And we’d go over to her brother’s place and have lots of fun times together there.  Or family would come to our place and ride horses or the mule we had, or the kids would go play in the woods or on the monkey bars.  Then there was visiting our dad’s family in Ravensdale on their acreage having a blast every season of the year and going up to play in the snow on Mt. Rainier   So, you can tell, spending time with family and friends was very important to mom and dad.  It was a wonderful life!

     Also, an awesome thing occurred because of that move to our new home next to grandma and grandpa’s.  Mom, her children, Ray, Edna, and Jeanette Lorraine and three of her grandchildren being, Crystal, Elizabeth, and Finley, all graduated from the same alma mater, three generations from Kent-Meridian High School! 

     After us kids were all grown up and gone on our own, mom and dad bought a mobile home Park Model in Florence, Arizona where they lived during the Winter months of the Kent area, then returned to Kent during the Summer months in Arizona.  And one time while they were back here, they achieved a very significant accomplishment … on May 9, 1977, the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary presented a certificate to each of them, to dad and to mom, for successfully completing the boating skills and seamanship course!

     Mom and dad raised their family and lived out the rest of their lives together in their home in Kent.  They were going on 70 years of being married when she lost her beloved companion on this past 4^th of July.  She missed him so much she left to join him 23 days later.  Now that’s true love!  And in two months’ time more, she would’ve had her 91^st birthday.  She made a long, full, adventurous, fun-loving life!

In lieu of flowers, please direct donations to The Alzheimer's Association-Washington State Chapter. 

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