Jennilea Patch

1931 - 2025

Jennilea Patch left this earth to join her soul mate, John William "Bill" Patch on June 19, 2025. She was born to John and Faye Turrentine in Loup City, NE on May 21, 1931. She met Bill at a church function in Sioux City, IA and they married on November 22, 1950, before Bill was deployed in the Korean War. When he returned, they moved to South Dakota where Bill attended the University of South Dakota at Vermillion. Sons Mark Richard and Gregory Matthew were born there and the young family lived in student housing that consisted of a small trailer. Son Douglas John was born after the family moved to California where Bill accepted a high school teaching position.

When the three boys were older, Jennie did computer work for Taft and Sylmar High Schools and entertained friends at their home often. After Bill retired in 1988, they moved to Yosemite Lakes Park where they enjoyed retirement life fully. They were very involved in the community and Jennie served as an officer in the Ladies of the Lake group and wrote the newsletter for years. Life was full of friends and traveling on cruises or in their RV. She loved to play cards, paint scenery on vacations, and visit with other campers over a glass of wine. Jennilea was known for re-arranging the home furniture on a regular basis.

After Bill passed, Jennie moved to Stonegate Mobile Home Park in Fresno, where she made many new friends and continued to play cards and bingo. As she grew more frail, she moved to an apartment at The Windham and then to Paintbrush Assisted Living. Jennilea was preceded in death by her parents, John and Faye Turrentine, husband Bill, son Doug, daughter-in-law Terry, and sister Shirley Jean Thistlewood. Jennie left behind sons Mark and Greg.

Jennilea Patch will be dearly missed by her remaining family and wonderful friends: Mark & Debbie Patch and their family, Jeremy & Jessica Patch and their children Savannah, Taylor, and Owen, Jason & Stephanie Patch and their daughter Cecilia, Greg & Lori Patch and their children Rebecca Patch, Sam Patch, and Anna Patch, the family of Doug & Terry Patch, Christina Rohrbaugh and her children Macy, Faith, Matthew, and Julia, Melissa & Matt Smith and their children Ethan and Audrey, Stephen & Lindsay Patch and their daughter Grace, Vicky Thistlewood Dooley and Jon Thistlewood, the Jeff & Paula Patch Family, Dusty Steinkraus, Connie Regan, and too many other friends to name.