GONE FROM OUR SIGHT BUT NOT FROM OUR HEARTS

JEANNETTE NICHOLAS PRESNER

Jeannette Mildred Nicholas arrived as a special delivery in Jamaica, Queens New York in 1938 and although she was the tenth child born of eleven children she was brought into this world in her own
home by her Mother who carried her newborn downstairs to retrieve a pair of scissors. Her husband George Hales Nicholas, Esq. had gone out into the blizzard to find the doctor. Mother and child shared he name Jeannette Mildred Nicholas.

Jeannette had the grace, resilience, determination, bounding energy and intuition to nurture her nascent skills into sparkling abilities. She became accomplished at virtually any activity she chose to master, including fine arts, dance, cooking, office management, legal assistant and managing her husband’s dental practice. She would love to be remembered for her shopping prowess as she was always able to zero in on the perfect item at the best price. She embarked on a career as a real estate agent and broker at the age of sixty to parlay her shopping skills into profitability.

She was a lifelong lover of romantic movies and songs and fortunate enough to experience love at first sight with her husband to be, Dr. Donald I. Presner DMD. Jeannette was initially his dental patient and as a consummate professional he was reticent to act on his attraction to a patient. Dr. Presner carried her contact information in his wallet for two weeks ruminating as to how he could make his feelings known to her in an ethical manner. Jeannette was feeling equally attracted to Dr. Presner and unconstrained by professional ethics she leapt into action opened the door to exploring their mutual feelings. They were engaged and married in record time.

Motherhood and marriage suited her. She cherished her children and was always there to pick them up if they fell and directed their energies in a productive, loving direction. She inculcated a sense of respect and gentle caring into her children by example. Jeannette would model loving behavior towards all and loved to create a fun and magical world for her children. Parenting included stealthily placing fresh cut gardenias on her daughter’s bedside tables so she would wake up to the fresh, sweet scent and learning all the rules of college football in order to be able to share in the joy of her son’s love of Florida State University games. Jeannette was very bonded with her parents and lived her life in tandem with her ten siblings enjoying a lifelong special bond with each. Her thirty four nieces and nephews and her much grander number of great and great-in great nephews and nieces all had their own special memories with their Aunt Jeannie. Thoughtful and fun are the words used most often. She was her Granddaughter’s joyful playmate and her mother in law, Bessie’s friend and confidant.

She is survived by loving husband Dr. Donald I Presner, her daughter Leila G. Presner, Esq., her son Nicholas D. Presner and his partner Rene Watkins, her grandchildren, Samantha N. Presner and Ben Watkins, her sisters, Margaret (Nicholas)Berndt and Edna (Nicholas) Crawford and her Husband Sam Crawford, her brother in laws, Robert “Butch” and Deedee Presner, Harvey and Susan Presner and too many nieces and nephews to count.

Jeannie made her home in Miami, Fl and the Blueridge Mts., Western North Carolina before retiring to Vero Beach, FL. Ever faithful, God took back the sweet angel in the form of our Jeannette on September 30, 2021.