Jeanne Brodie

Jeanne Marie (Knobel) Brodie passed away on May 15, 2020 shortly after 4 PM with the love and company of family at her side. She was 100 years, 5 months and 3 days old. Her long life was bookended by the Flu Pandemic (1918-1920) and the Coronavirus Pandemic (2020 - ?). She crammed a lot of living between those two pandemics. Her heart wasn’t able to keep up with her fierce desire to live to see how the world turns out. Knowing our mother, she was likely expressing her disappointment about her bum ticker to St. Peter at the moment of her arrival.  

It’s impossible to do justice to 100 years of life in a few paragraphs. Jeanne was an artist, an industrial design engineer, a wife, a mother, and a true friend. She was a WWII widow who became an authentic Rosie the Riveter, and worked in a profession she loved until she was 97 years old. Jeanne advocated passionately for women’s rights and pay equity. She was well loved by the many people who knew her. She was fiercely independent and appreciated a good quality scotch on the rocks from time to time.

Jeanne was preceded in death by her parents, William and Bertha (Kummer) Knobel; husbands Samuel Southall and Albert Brodie; beloved son-in-laws Terry Woidtke, Tom Kinnaman and Don Jones. She is survived by daughters Christine (Southall) Kinnaman, Pamela (Ben Price) Brodie, granddaughters Diana (Michael) Mullenix, Jeanne (Michael) Bauer and grandson John (Jessie) Kinnaman; 10 great-grandchildren and 6 great-great grandchildren; a host of nieces and nephews, especially nephews Robert and David Southall who watched over her and made endless trips to CVS for her and niece Tracey Bonfield who was by her side through heart surgery; and her dearest friend Jean Spangler, who she called “my third daughter.”

Jeanne’s family is grateful to Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus Ohio, its chaplains and hospice for taking care of her and our family. Thank you too, to Reverend Chris McCann and her church family at St. Luke Episcopal Church in Chardon, Ohio; she loved you all. 

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, no in-person memorial service will be held at this time. The family has set up a memorial page for Jeanne on Facebook under her name. An online memorial service is planned for June 3, 2020. Notifications about the service will be posted and the service can be viewed on Jeanne’s Facebook page. The service will also appear on the St. Luke Episcopal Church website http://www.stlukechardon.org/ Jeanne will be interred with her parents at Lakeview Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio.

In Lieu of flowers, Jeanne and her family would like you to remember her by contributing to St. Luke’s Episcopal Church Memorial Fund PO Box 244, Chardon, Ohio 44024.