PLATTSBURGH — MINVILLE, N.Y. — Jeannette Elizabeth Osowiski O'Donnell born May 14, 1936 died Dec. 17, 2012.
She was the youngest of five children (Ernie, Millie, Henry, Judy, then Jeannette) born to Walter John Osowiski and Jenny Elizabeth (Pechowecz) Osowiski. Only her brother (Ernie Osowiski of Conn.) and Millie Nye (Calif.) have not pre-deceased her.
To say she had a difficult childhood was only "putting it midly". In her early years she worked on the Consolidated Tobacco Fields (White Owl Cigars) in Glastonbury, Conn. She quit school in the 6th grade to care for her first niece. Besides caring for her niece, another joy she experienced was fishing for eel on the Connecticut River near her childhood home.
Through her work at Consolidated she met the man who she would eventually marry (Merton O'Donnell, also predeceasing her in Dec. of 2007) on Nov. 12, 1954. Together they moved from town to town in Connecticut in attempts to find suitable employment to provide for their ever growing family. They finally settled in Mineville, NY.
In her later years she became a long-time resident of the Horace Nye Nursing Home (Elizabethtown, NY). Her favorite hobby there being the gardens she raised and the vegetables she sold in anticipation of the holidays and her next year garden.
Her legacy is and are her children (There would have been 22 if not for her frequent miscarriages) Michael J (Albany, N.Y.), Mary A. (Gutreuter and son Jean-Miguel of Crown Point, N.Y., and great-grandson Spencer RBI Hill of Calif.), Elizabeth Austin (and son Jared Firlik and long-time companion Wes Larmour of Grover Hills, Mineville), Tina Mount (and daughters Kristen and Amy Mount of Morrisville, Pa.), James/''Beaker'' (step-son Casey Collins, and daughter Karsyn R of Plattsburgh, N.Y.), John (and daughters Brooke, Morgan, Paige, Reagan and wife Traci Tigar of Yardley, Pa.) and Billie Jo O'Donnell (son Conner Rodriguez and devoted companion Dave Jubert of Morrisonville N.Y.). She is also survived by her very special friend Henry Sloan of Crown Point, N.Y.
A special remembrance service and gathering will be held 11 am on Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013 at Mount Moriah Presbyterian Church in Port Henry, N.Y.
On May 14th both her and her husband's remains will go on their final ride back to her beloved Connecticut River as a final birthday gift in her memory and in accordance with her final wishes. She will be missed by all who knew her.
