Jeanne Helen Nolan

1924 - 2023

Jeanne Helen Nolan

May 4, 1924 - Jan. 17, 2023

Jeanne "GG" Helen Nolan died peacefully on Tuesday, January 17, 2023 surrounded by her beloved family members. Born on May 4, 1924 to Helen Haxtun Connor Nolan and Michael Charles Nolan on Harrison Avenue in South Glens Falls, she improved the world she lived in for almost a century.

From the time she was a little girl, Jeanne was a happy, social person with a wonderful sense of humor who loved her family more than anything else. When she grew older, she took pride in working during a time when many women were still at home.

She entered the workforce at Imperial in August 1942 at the age of 18 and stayed on for 43 years during the company's many transitions, first to Hercules then to Ciba-Geigy and finally to Novartis. During that time, she advanced within the company, initially writing orders for the sales and research departments and then promoted to typist and eventually to the dictaphone where she found immense pleasure in being one of the first people in the area to use a computer.

In 1957, her brother Bill and his wife Lucille both died within months of each other from cancers, and Jeanne inherited their three children: Pat (age 5 at the time), Mike (age 9) and Linda (age 15). With the help of her parents, with whom she still lived, Jeanne raised the three children as her own and chose to remain unmarried.

She retired from Novartis in 1985 at the young age of 61. Instead of saving her pension for her formal retirement years, she cashed it out and went backpacking through Europe with a girlfriend for two months, which was no surprise to her family considering her lifelong love of traveling and seeing new places. Reflecting upon this choice in later years, she claimed that she didn't regret a thing and would have done the same thing again if presented with the same choice.

Never one to sit still for too long, Jeanne volunteered at Ballard School as a teacher aide in the kindergarten classrooms and even went back to work at Park Personnel and eventually Wesley Health, at the age of 70. She finally, officially retired just before the age of 80.

Despite her many years in the workforce, she was best known for making a career out of being with her family. Her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren remember her being at every game, recital, show and school function. She was always good for a joke, usually heard that week in church, and her laughter was famous among her family and friends. She was known just as much for her love of reading as she was for her abhorrence of math, and even though she was incredibly well-read and informed, she never considered herself to be particularly intelligent because of her inability to multiply anything by seven or nine. Regardless, she held the title, and still remains, the undisputed MVP at her family's annual Trivial Pursuit game following Thanksgiving dinner.

Jeanne always looked forward to dinner, especially if she had company, as she disliked eating alone. Her preference for Chardonnay is legendary and her enjoyment of Coors Light, cheeseburgers, lobster, bubbly shrimp, and pretty much anything that Pat makes, is almost equally well known; though truthfully she survived the majority of her 98 years by consuming primarily chocolate, candy and soda, and zealously avoiding anything that could be considered a vegetable.

Jeanne is survived by her children: Linda Trasacco (Barry) and Pat Shea (Mike); her grandchildren: Jeff Perry (Catherine), Jill Moyer, Greg Perry (Kim), Kari Nolan, Sage Shea, Sean Nolan, and Summer Steves (Andrew); her great-grandchildren: Faith Perry, Grace Perry, Mae Ryan, Star Shea, Maggie Ryan, Mack Ryan, Nicholas Perry, Lily Steves, and Finn Steves; her daughter-in-law, Kris Nolan; and her nieces: Susan Ogden and Debbie Nolan. Jeanne was predeceased by her parents, Helen and Michael; her sister, Betty, her brothers: Bill, Philip and John; her son, Mike Nolan; her nephews: Joe and Jackie Nolan, and her sister-in-law, Jeanette Nolan.

A Mass of Christian Burial for Jeanne will be celebrated 4:00 p.m. on Friday, January 20, 2023 at St. Michael's Church in South Glens Falls. The family will receive guests from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the church prior to the mass.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations for the Mike Nolan Scholarship Fund which benefits seniors at South Glens Falls High School in honor of Jeanne's son, Mike. Donations may be forwarded to Mike Nolan Scholarship Fund, c/o Pat Shea, 169 Haviland Road, Queensbury NY 12804.

The family would like to express their overwhelming gratitude for the love and support of the staff at Home of the Good Shepherd in Moreau, as well as for the amazing care and attention provided by Alice of Saratoga County Hospice.

For those who wish, on line condolences may be made to the family by visiting www.sbfuneralhome.com.