Eugenia Marie Wilkinson
Obituary
On Sunday, Dec. 13, 2020, Eugenia Marie Wilkinson peacefully passed and answered God's call to go home with our Lord.
Jeannie was born on Jan. 28, 1939, in Livermore, Calif., to Manuel and Marie Santana. She grew up in Pleasanton, Calif., and graduated from Amador High School and from St. Mary's College of Nursing in San Francisco. She worked at St. Joseph's Hospital in Stockton as a surgical nurse. Upon visiting the parents of her nursing school classmate, Pat Wilkinson, at their ranch in Soledad, Jeannie met Richard - her husband of 58 years.
Jeannie and Rick raised six sons and two daughters. She was truly good - a selfless, loving, patient, and kind mother and wife. How blessed and lucky we were to have her in our lives! She was strong in faith and love of God; with a special love for our Blessed Mother Mary. She and Rick provided living examples of faithful prayer and how to put faith and love of God into action.
When most of the children were grown, Jeannie re-turned to nursing at the clinic in Soledad for a while. She then went to work at the Soledad Community Library for 19 years. Upon retirement, she volunteered at the Our Lady of Solitude Catholic Church gift shop, and continued to run the shop and help out at church and Masses in many ways. She was kind to everyone and she had many, many friends made through her work at the library and the church.
Jeannie had many interests and hobbies. She loved to work on different craft, needlework, jelly making, photography, and other projects - always for the purpose of giving the final product to family and friends. Other hobbies included reading, gardening, and crossword and jigsaw puzzles.
Jeannie is preceded in death by her parents and by her son, Stephen. She is survived by her loving husband, Richard; daughters: Mary Pat (Tom) Montez and Connie (Jaime) Rios; sons: Tom (Catherine), Bill, Philip, Jim (Shannon), and Michael (Rosa) Wilkinson; grandchildren: Matt, Danielle, and Sally Montez, and Sarah and Adam Wilkinson. She is also survived by her sister, Mary Ann Gregory, of Fair Oaks, Calif.; cousins, Alan Faria of Santa Cruz, Virginia Kallman of Corralitos, and Liz Haide of Oregon; In-laws: Ed and Mary, Bill and Annie, and George and Cecilia Wilkinson, and numerous nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in memory of Jeannie be made to Our Lady of Solitude Catholic Church in Soledad.
Rosary: Saturday, Dec. 19, 2020, at 10:30 a.m. at Our Lady of Solitude Catholic Church.
Funeral Mass: Saturday, Dec. 19, 2020, at 11 a.m. at Our Lady of Solitude Catholic Church.
Burial: Soledad Cemetery District.
Arrangements by Woodyard Funeral Home, 395 East St, Soledad (831) 678-9100 WoodyardFuneralHome.com.
Published in Salinas Valley Tribune · December 23, 2020