Jean Ellis Melvin Tonjes

Tonjes - Jean Ellis Melvin, died September 25, 2024, in Smithtown, at the age of 93. Jeanie was born in Brooklyn and grew up there during the war. She was very smart. She went to Erasmus High School, and double majored in German and French at Adelphi University. Lever Bothers, her first employer, made her a secretary in 1950. She earned Master's Degrees in education and counseling, and also worked as an insurance broker, graduate program director at New York Tech, and elementary school teacher (she liked that best). Jean and her husband of 68 years, Jim Tonjes, loved each other very much. Jim and Jean moved to Long Island in 1958; they lived in Northport for 33 years, and later in Smithtown for nearly 20 years. In between, they lived in Espanola, New Mexico for over a decade. Jeanie played tennis and golf and skied, and loved the beach and swimming in ocean waves. She played bridge for 80 years, becoming a life master. Baseball was a joy, until the Dodgers moved. She transferred her loyalties to the Mets, and rooted for the Jets. She travelled the country and large parts of the world, living in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where she and Jim taught school. She and Jim also lived in England for a year. Jeanie was amazing at making and keeping friends wherever she went, all her life. She was devoted to her church. She volunteered her time, the best was a women's prison ministry in New Mexico. Jeanie

would talk about anything and everything to anyone. But she especially liked to argue politics. She was a friend of Bill for nearly 50 years. She was predeceased by her daughter, Kathryn, seven years ago, and then by Jim in May of this year. Her three remaining children, their spouses, and her four grandchildren will miss her very much. There will be a Memorial Service November 10, at 1pm, at Trinity Church, 130 Main St., Northport.