Josephine "Jodey" Lenfestey

Josephine "Jodey"
Lenfestey "Jodey" passed away in Corte Madera on January 2 after a brief illness. She was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin to Frederick John "Ted" Lenfestey and Josephine Buchanan Lenfestey. She graduated from Milwaukee Downer (now Milwaukee University School) in 1957 and Middlebury College in 1961, where she studied political science and Russian and joined Kappa Kappa Gamma. At Middlebury, Jodey developed her life-long love of skiing and jazz. An accomplished singer, she knew more than a thousand songs by heart.
After Middlebury she worked in Washington DC for congressman John Lindsay of New York, then traveled through Europe and Russia before settling in Munich, Germany, where she worked for Radio Free Europe - a broadcasting network designed to get information to countries behind the Iron Curtain. Fluent in German and Russian, she received a citation from the U. S. State Department for meritorious service after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963. After a brief marriage ended in divorce, she returned to the US in 1967 where she worked at the Museum of Modern Art in New York until 1974 when she moved to Pacific Heights in San Francisco for the rest of her life.
The "life of the party," Jodey will be remembered for her many enduring friendships, generosity, patriotism, staunch support of the Republican Party and life-long loyalty to the Green Bay Packers. No one will ever know all those she helped in the course of her life, but they include her family, godchildren, and an extensive network of friends.
She is survived by sister Lynn Fey (Tom) of Park City, Utah, brother Jim Lenfestey (Susan) of Minneapolis, and beloved nieces and nephews. A celebration of her life will take place over the Fourth of July weekend at the family cottage in Wisconsin. Memorials may be made to the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, founded by her father and enthusiastically supported by Jodey.