Obituary of Jeanne T. Fenzel

Jeanne Lensinboltz Fenzel was born in Orange, NJ on Jan. 16, 1930, to Loretta and Louis Lensinboltz. She graduated from Irvington H.S., Irvington, NJ. She met Jack Fenzel at a USO dance and they married May 22, 1954. She then made the big move to NY, and they lived in several places as he sold Caterpillar tractors throughout the state. They had 3 children, Dawn, Debbie, & Jeff, and moved to Vestal in 1964. She was a quiet, loving mother and grandmother. She was also a real part of many nieces, nephews, family friends, and godchildren's lives through the generations. She liked to cook and she hated to sew! She loved to bake, from scratch, and was happy to give out a recipe to anyone who asked. It happened that some of the recipes were so complicated that people were amazed! A wonderful recipe was labeled by one niece as "Aunt Jeanne's Cupcakes". It went from person to person, so far, that eventually one niece realized she had received it that way from another cousin! Over the years, she made many graduation cakes (2 types of icing with graduate silhouette). Also, there are many young and not-so-young women who remember receiving a fancy decorated 16th birthday doll cake. We remember great holidays with Mom playing the piano and the group singing around her. When we were in junior high, she got involved with choral music. She sang first in the St. Vincent de Paul Church choir, and they began to encourage her to join some of the larger choruses, which she would have to try out for. That is how she got in the Binghamton Choral Society, which was associated with the (then) Binghamton Symphony. This was when she began to be proud of her alto singing range, and became adamant, privately, that alto was the most important vocal part, because it really made the harmony and the music, and anybody could sing the melody! She went on to sing with the Broome Community College chorus, and the Binghamton University chorus (with Dad kidding her about being a student!), learning how to sing in many languages. Jeanne was a long-time member of the Downtown Singers until about 2016 when she began to have more health concerns, but she always hoped to get back to the group. She died peacefully March 20, 2020, at James G. Johnston Care Center of Hilltop United Methodist Home. She is predeceased by husband John (Jack), son Jeff, sisters Loretta Stults, Alice Suchomel, and Marie Griswold. She is survived by her 2 daughters, Dawn & Chuck Ciringione of Vestal, and Deb Fenzel-Alexander & Steve Alexander of San Jose, CA; grandchildren Alicia Ciringione and Sam Fenzel-Alexander; and brother Joe & Dottie Lensinboltz. In accordance with the current health guidelines, a private Funeral Mass will be offered at St. Vincent de Paul Blessed Sacrament Church, Vestal. Entombment will be in Vestal Hills Memorial Park. Expressions of sympathy in Jeanne's memory may be made to CHOW, 3 Otseningo Street, Binghamton, NY 13903, https://broomecouncil.net/chow/ .