Jeananne Beattie Jeffers died at her Aquinnah home on August 5 with family and friends by her side.

 

She was born on March 25, 1937 in Medford, the daughter of Charles G. and Annie Campbell Beattie. Jean was their first child followed by Marjorie, William and James. The family moved from Medford to the Martha's Vineyard Methodist Camp Ground in Oak Bluffs, where they maintained a gingerbread cottage on Siloam avenue.

Jeananne married Ronald B. Jeffers in February 1970 and moved to what was then Gay Head, where she became very active in the community.

She worked very diligently over the years as the Gay Head columnist for the Vineyard Gazette, for the Dukes County Sheriff's Department as a dispatcher in communications, and at the Gay Head library and the Gay Head landfill. She then went on to work as the director of finance for the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), where she was instrumental in assisting Gladys and Donald Widdiss during the federal acknowledgement process. She was the director of finance for Carl M. Widdiss at Widdiss Recovery for nearly 20 years.

She served the Town of Aquinnah for more than 30 years, first as the town clerk, then as acting tax collector and then fully retiring as the assistant to the assessors in February 2007.

Jeananne was also a justice of the peace and performed many marriages across the commonwealth including in Boston, on Cape Cod and on the Vineyard, where the services were quite often performed on the beach.

She was a worldwide traveler and enjoyed her many vacations with her mother Annie, her mother in law Thelma Randolph Diamond, and her daughter Audrey. Some of her most favorite trips included Egypt, Russia, California, England and Scotland (to visit her ancestral homelands.) She also traveled aboard the Queen Elizabeth II and took many cruises to the Caribbean. She had many friends across the world in Cambodia and in Australia who continued to keep in touch with her earlier this month.

Her other interests included reading and knitting. She mostly enjoyed being with her friends and family, especially her grandsons Paul Henry and Peyton.

Survivors include her husband Ronald B. Jeffers, her children Michael Gilman and Audrey Jeffers-Mayhew, and her grandchildren Paul Henry and Peyton, all of Aquinnah; and her sister, Marjorie Wardell of Florida, her brother, James Beattie of New Hampshire, and their families.

She was predeceased by her parents Charles and Annie and by her brother William.

Graveside services will be conducted by the Rev. Roger H. Spinney on Saturday, August 18 at the North Cemetery in Aquinnah at 11 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations to the Visiting Nurse Service, 111 Edgartown Road, Vineyard Haven MA 02568 or to Hospice, Linton Lane, Oak Bluffs MA 02557 in Jeananne's memory would be greatly appreciated.