Jeannette J Burrell

Jeannette J. Burrell, 86, passed away on November 12, 2024, at Staten Island University Hospital North. Jeannette grew up in Gibraltar, PA in an old hotel owned and operated by her Polish grandmother. It was part working-class bar, part hotel, part family farm located at a rural stop of the Reading Railroad. Her grade school was a two-room building where the children of the village were taught together. She graduated from Central Catholic High School in Reading, PA in 1956. She was the first person in her family to attend college, graduating in 1960 from St. Francis College in Loretto, PA. The friendships she made there formed life-long bonds. On a formative six-week trip to Europe in 1961, with high school and college friends, she set up a date at Heidelberg Castle with a young man she had met while visiting a friend from St. Francis on Staten Island. This was her future husband Dennis, a GI serving as a tank driver on the German/German border. For Dennis, it was love at first sight from the moment he met Jeannette, and he wasn't taking any chances. They miraculously managed to meet at one of the castle's three entrances (which hadn't been decided on ahead of time) and he brought along a few of his army buddies to entertain Jeannete's friends, inviting them to a bar where a model train passed over head and local lore dictated that couples kiss when it stopped above their table. The magic worked. Dennis joined Jeannette and her friends for the next ten days touring Germany and Switzerland. In 1961 Jeannette moved to Oakwood, Staten Island, where she lived for the rest of her life. She was employed as a social worker at New York Foundling Hospital and studied for her Masters in Social Work at Fordham University. In October 1963, she married Dennis and shortly thereafter they settled into the family home on Whitehall Street. Their first child, Jennifer, was born in 1965, Jeffrey in 1968. In the course of her life Jeannette was incredibly active in the social and religious organisations around her. She served as the President of the PTA at PS 50 in Oakwood, she was a Girl Scout leader, and she coordinated the Eucharistic Chapel at St. Charles Church for over twenty-five years. Jeannette was also the longest serving alumni board member of St. Francis College, for over thirty years. She was a poll worker in Oakwood for decades, where she enjoyed keeping track of generations of neighbors. Jeanette was always ready for a new adventure. She was an avid traveler, visiting her children while they were studying, working or living abroad in Spain, Germany, and Guatemala. She also made a point of regularly visiting family members behind the Iron Curtain in Poland, as well as Dennis' family in Ireland and England. She made many pilgrimages, including to Medugorje (in Yugoslavia, later Bosnia), Spain and Turkey, among others. During her longtime membership at the Great Kills Swim Club she took up tennis and continued to play into her 80s. She also practiced yoga and meditation during the 1970s and 80s. She was an avid Yankees fan, writing down the starting lineups and tallying the box score herself. She was a member of two book clubs. For one of them, she served as secretary, a great match for her fastidious notetaking, which extended to meals eaten by the family every day, what clothing was worn, and what she learned on her favorite Sunday morning show. She also documented her life and those around her with her ever-present camera, gifting photos wherever she went. Jeannette was a caring neighbor and community member. She delivered Eucharist to home-bound church members and regularly visited friends and family in hospitals and nursing homes. She dearly loved her children and grandchildren. With her granddaughters, Imogen and Lila, she shared her great love of ice cream, amusement parks, shopping, and the fine arts of snacking and small talk. As she famously said to eight-month old Lila, ''This family loves ice cream and you will, too.'' Jeanette was the beloved wife to Dennis Burrell. Loving mother to Jennifer Burrell and Jeffrey Burrell. Fond mother-in-law to Alexander Dupuy and Sonja Sarailly. Devoted grandmother to Imogen Burrell and Lila Jenova Dupuy. Dear sister to Carol Janiszewski and Tina Preston. The family will receive friends from 2:00 - 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 16, 2024, and from 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 17, 2024, at the John Vincent Scalia Home for Funerals, Inc., 28 Eltingville Blvd, Staten Island, New York. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 9:15 a.m. on Monday, November 18, 2024 at St. Charles Church located at 200 Penn Ave Staten Island, New York 10306. Cremation will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Jeannette's name to St. Francis University, Loretto, PA at www.francis.edu/makeagift Click 'Annual Fund' and at bottom of page signify in memory of Jeannette Burrell. Gift by check: Make payable to Saint Francis University, in memory of Jeannette Burrell, and mail to: SFU, Office of Advancement, P.O. Box 600, Loretto, PA 15940

Jeannette J Burrell

October 18, 1938 - November 12, 2024