Obituary of rae jean volkenand

Rae Jean Volkenand (Stump), "Jeanie", age 66, resident of Fort Walton Beach, FL passed away surrounded by friends and family in her home on August 16, 2022. She leaves behind her husband of 49 years, James Volkenand; daughters, Stephanie Volkenand and Nikki Volkenand Mead; three grandchildren, Abbi Volkenand-Allen, Olivia Mead, and Will Mead. Jeanie was born in Xenia, Ohio in 1955 to Ray and Emma Stump. She grew up in Ohio with her 6 siblings, Sheran, Carolyn, Jerry, John, Dennis, and Andrew. She married James Volkenand, "Jim", in 1973. Jeanie and Jim had two daughters, Stephanie and Nikki before moving to Fort Walton Beach in 1978. Jeanie worked in defense contracting alongside one of her best friends, Wayne Armstrong until she was forced to retire due to chronic illness that would ultimately be the cause of her untimely passing. Jeanie loved the people she worked with and made many lifelong friends. Prior to Jeanie's health beginning t fail she could outwork anyone at the office and at home. Her daughters were forever teasing her about being a "drill sergeant" growing up, when it came to chores and keeping the house clean. When she was not at work, she was working in the yard or ironing (she loved ironing). Even when her health began failing her, she was always baking for her friends or helping her family with their own chores to the point of exhaustion. When Jeanie's daughters were young (and assuming all the chores were done...), Jim, Jeanie, Nikki and Stephanie had many great times traveling by Airstream or RV to square-dancing competitions and camping with friends. Jeanie took pride in the fact that she was able to embarrass her teenage daughters by picking them up from school events or the mall in her square-dancing outfit (or her and Jim's green matching sweatsuits). Most vacation time was spent in Ohio with family and Jim and Jeanie's lifelong friends. When Abbi was born (the first of her three grandchildren), Jeanie became "Nana". It was her role as Nana where she was happiest. She was a dedicated and doting grandmother who spent countless hours helping with her newborn grandbabies she loved so much. Jeanie took great pleasure in watching the grandkids any time she got a chance, and often her daughters would come home to find that Jeanie had been there and done all the laundry or made dinner. Although she loved to clean..., her real purpose for doing this was to show her daughters how proud she was of them as mothers. As her grandchildren got older Jeanie attended every school event and sporting event-even after her health made it physically painful at times. Although she was known for offering "life lessons" that made the teenagers roll their eyes (like her favorite saying- "Make good choices."), Jeanie was always giving her grandkids heartfelt praise and congratulations. More than anything else, Jeanie wanted to say or do anything she could to make sure her grandchildren knew how much they meant to her. It was the kind of ever-present love, support, and encouragement that can be taken for granted at the time, but now that it is gone, is already painfully missed. After her square-dancing career ended, Jeanie's favorite pastime became talking to strangers. She couldn't leave a restaurant without making friends with the waitress and neighboring tables. But her interest and concern for both her new friends and her old friends was always sincere. Jeanie always remembered to ask about things other were dealing with and rarely talked about all the tragic health problems she was dealing with at every moment of the day. Her new and old friends would agree that Jeanie was generous with Ziploc bag of cookies; she handed them out because she wanted so badly to show others that she appreciated and cared about them. It was sweet and heartbreaking at the same time going through Jeanie's iphone camera role after she passed. There were almost no pictures that would tell a person what Jeanie owned, or what she had done or seen-the pictures were almost all of her grandchildren and all the pictures that her friends and family had texted to her of themselves over the years. While the world around her stayed busy with their own lives, Jeanie struggled so hard to participate because of her health, but she never lost even the slightest passion for her friends and family. There are probably not many obituaries written by sons-in-law. But there are also not many mothers-in-law like Jeanie. I'm sure it is no surprise for her friends to hear that Jeanie enjoyed teasing me. If Jeanie stopped teasing you, that was when you knew there was a problem. I know for absolute certain what she would say to me if she was here-She would tell me I finally got rid of my mother-in-law like we always joked about. And I would probably tell her "That's true." But nothing could be further from the truth. I will miss Jeanie tremendously, as will her daughters she was so proud of, her husband who fought so hard along side her, and her grandkids who she loved so much. We each have a different hole in our lives now that can never be replaced. Jeanie-We love you, thank you for everything you did for us, and thank you for all of the oatmeal cookies with no raisins. You will be deeply missed. A Celebration of Life for Jeanie will be held on Sunday, August 21st at the Fort Walton Beach Yacht Club from 3:00 to 5:00 PM. Arrangements entrusted to Family-Funeral & Cremation, Mary Esther, FL (850)226-4240. In Lieu of flowers please make a donation to the Wounded Warriors Project.https://communityfundraising.woundedwarriorproject.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.personalCampaign&participantID=9637