JENNINGS, Francis Eugene "Gene" 1930-2015
JENNINGS, MARSHALL, SETER, DOANE, SCHMELTZER
Posted By: County Coordinator
Date: 11/23/2015 at 13:24:37
Died November 22, 2015
U.S. Veteran
Francis Eugene “Gene” Jennings, age 85, of Orchard, died Sunday, November 22, 2015, at St. Marys Hospital in Rochester, Minnesota.
Funeral services will be held at 1:00 p.m. Friday, November 27, 2015, at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Osage with Rev. Bryan Lagerstam officiating. Burial will be at the Orchard Cemetery in Orchard, Iowa, with military honors at the grave by Orchard American Legion Post 641. Visitation will be from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Thursday at the Champion-Bucheit Funeral Home in Osage.
Francis was born January 27, 1930, in Nichols, Iowa, the son of Averald and Orpha (Marshall) Jennings. He attended Osage, St. Ansgar and Mitchell schools, graduating from Mitchell High School in 1949. He enlisted in the United States Air Force February 1, 1950, serving during the Korean Conflict. He was the senior aircraft B-36 mechanic for the plane that dropped the first hydrogen bomb in November 1952 on Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
On July 26, 1953, he married Mildred Seter at the Osage Lutheran Church. They moved to Fort Worth, Texas until February 1954 upon his honorable discharge as a Technical Staff Sergeant from Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth. They returned to Iowa and started farming at Riceville. In March 1955, they moved to their dairy farm at Orchard, Iowa. Francis enjoyed mechanics and fixing things.
Francis is survived by his wife, Mildred Jennings; his six children, David (Diane) Jennings, Paul (Donna) Jennings, Elaine Jennings (Rick Regel), Neil Jennings, Deborah Jennings and Natalie (Dan) Olson; 13 grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; sister, Doris Reynolds; and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his father-in-law and mother-in-law, Clifford and Clara Seter; sisters, Lois Thomas, Marion Doane and Clarice Schmeltzer; and brother, Bill Jennings.
Champion - Bucheit Funeral Home (641)732-3706
Source: Champion-Bucheit Funeral Home website
Mitchell Obituaries maintained by Sharyl Ferrall.
WebBBS 4.33 Genealogy Modification Package by WebJourneymen