Obituary: Jeanette Vincent

Jeanette Vincent

Jeanette Vincent

Former Prescott, Arizona, resident Jeanette Vincent, 85, recently passed away at the Valley Manor Care Center in Montrose, Colorado, following a long illness.

She was born Mary Jeanette Cobean in 1929 in Fairland, Oklahoma, to George and Pauline (née Trautman) Cobean, along with her brother Sam and sister Elizabeth (Betty). She was raised in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and graduated from Will Rogers High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1946. She married Jerry Thomas Hodges that same year and together they had three sons. Jeanette and Jerry separated in 1961. In 1971, she married Delbert Vincent in Turner, Kansas. In 1980, Jeanette and Del moved to Prescott, where her son Ken had his dental practice. Following Del's death in 1981, Jeanette worked in Ken's office as his accountant for a number of years before retiring.

As with every person's life, Jeanette faced many challenges, including the loss of her own mother when she was 3 years old, failure of her first marriage, breast cancer, and her second husband suffering a debilitating stroke only a month after their marriage... a man for whom she cared another 10 years until his death. But she also had great achievements, a tremendous love of life, friends and family and an insatiable desire to create art. She danced as a child, loved to sing, enjoyed sewing, and later studied a number of art forms - watercolors, pottery, creative writing, photography - the last which led to a nearly two-month photo safari from Johannesburg to Nairobi (her one and only trip overseas) and hundreds of truly stunning images. Upon her early retirement, she took up hiking and mountain-climbing, spending her time on hikes and climbs throughout the western states and in Mexico, achieving the documented climb of all 54 of Colorado's Fourteeners as well as nearly every other climbable peak in the state. She continued to hike and climb until it was no longer safe for her to do so.

Jeanette was spiritual, but not in a particular religion. Her belief was in what greater power created the view she had from a mountaintop, the critters she encountered in the desert or forest, the beauty of a sunrise on the beach or an Arizona sunset. She saw the wonder of creation in the snowflakes that fell on the deck of her house in Prescott and the veins of a golden aspen leaf. She was fascinated by the hummingbirds that hovered around her house and dive-bombed her cat.

Jeanette is survived by her son Ken Hodges of Cave Creek and his wife Cookie; son Tony Hodges of Phoenix; son David Hodges of Telluride, Colorado; stepdaughter Beverly Hodges of Phoenix; brother Sam Cobean of Branford, Florida; four grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

A celebration of Jeanette's life will be held in Prescott at a later date. To be notified of that celebration, please email Hodges.Ken@gmail.com.

Information provided by survivors.


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