Frances J. Fett
FETT, JENDZEJEC, SZAREK, LEIBOWITZ, PIKE, JOHNSON, BOROWSKI
Posted By: Sarah Fletcher (email)
Date: 2/23/2022 at 08:01:18
Frances J. Fett, 91, of Iowa City, Iowa, passed away February 19, 2022 at Crestview Care Center in West Branch, Iowa.
Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Wednesday February 23, 2022 at 11:30 AM at St. Thomas More Catholic Church with Father Chuck Adam officiating. Visitation will be held prior to the funeral Mass from 10:30 to 11:30 AM. Burial will follow at Memory Gardens Cemetery in Iowa City, Iowa. The funeral Mass will be live streamed for those who cannot attend. The link to watch the livestream will be posted on the Tribute Wall under Fran’s obituary at www.lensingfuneral.com.
Frances was born December 27, 1930 in Quidnick, Rhode Island, to Frank and Bertha (Szarek) Jendzejec. She grew up in a close-knit Polish community in West Warwick. Polish was Fran’s primary language until learning English at a young age in elementary school. Fran graduated from Xavier, an all-girls Catholic high school in Coventry.
She attended Junior College and worked in Washington, D.C. before marrying Donald Fett, a Navy Air Corps Veteran, on November 15, 1952, at Our Lady of Czestochowa Church in Rhode Island. The couple moved to Iowa, residing in Cedar Falls while Donald completed his teaching degree. They lived in Aurelia, Iowa and Antioch, Illinois. Their next home was in Burlington, Iowa before settling in Iowa City in 1966. Fran spent the first few years in Iowa City raising their four children, Wayne, Michael, Patrick and Jane. When the youngest was in elementary school, Fran began working for the Iowa City Community School District. She was dedicated to her career, particularly as school secretary at Sabin Elementary School and the Community Education Center in Iowa City for 23 years, retiring in 1992.
Fran and Don enjoyed traveling and volunteering together. The couple made a great team, and were devoted to one another. Fran never let Don’s diagnosis of Alzheimer’s in the last years of his life get in the way of her love and devotion to him. She visited him daily at the care center despite her own health complications at that time. She did that up until his death in 2007, after 55 memorable and loving years of marriage.
Fran was a dedicated mother first and foremost. Not only was she a mother to her children but also to her children’s friends and the hundreds of students that she got to know while working at Sabin and CEC. Fran served as Cub Scout den mother and attended countless sporting events of all four children. She and Don were also loyal supporters of their grandchildren’s school and extracurricular activities.
She was a talented seamstress and enjoyed reading, singing, gardening, crocheting, knitting, swimming and most of all, spending time with her family.
Fran was active in her community and was a dedicated member of the National Alliance on Mental Illness and lowa Retired School Personnel Association, serving as secretary for many years. She and Don were one of three couples who started the NAMI State Organization in Iowa City and were dedicated advocates. Fran was also passionate about her Catholic faith. She was a loyal member of the St. Thomas More Catholic Church Parish in Coralville since 1966. It was her lifelong faith in God that helped her through life’s most difficult challenges.
Fran had a beautiful smile and genuinely enjoyed life. She lived it to the fullest, regardless of what life threw at her. She was hardworking, determined, patient, kind-hearted, and even feisty at times. Never one to shy away or not let her opinion be known, she could be direct and to the point and truly was the definition of “small, but mighty”. Fran was a fierce mama bear who loved her family deeply and will be greatly missed by all who knew her.
Her family wishes to send a special thank you to the staff at Crestview Care Center in West Branch for their love and care to Fran.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) or St. Thomas More Catholic Church.
She is survived by three children Wayne (Sue) Fett of Iowa City, IA, Michael Fett of Iowa City, IA, and Jane (Nathan Leibowitz) Fett of Alexandria, VA; two grandchildren Erin (Evan) Pike of Dunlap, IL, and Courtney (Scott) Johnson of West Des Moines, IA; five great-grandchildren Tucker, Hudson, Ellery, Landry, and Crew; and two brothers Stanley Jendzejec of West Warwick, RI, and Thomas (Jan) Jendzejec of Greene, RI.
Fran was preceded in death by her parents, husband, two siblings, Loretta Borowski and Henry Jendzejec, and son Patrick Fett.
Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service
Johnson Obituaries maintained by Cindy Booth Maher.
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