Jeannine Lois (Swanton) Lehman passed away peacefully on December 6, 2024 at Rosewood Senior Living in Cambridge, MN. She was born in Fergus Falls, MN on January 26, 1931 to Waldo Swanton and Lenora Olson. After graduation from Fairview Nursing School in Minneapolis, she married Roger Lehman in 1953. She continued to work at Fairview Hospital until 1956 when they moved to Mountain Lake, MN after Roger’s graduation from pharmacy school. There she worked as a surgical nurse at the Mountain Lake Hospital. Shortly after Roger’s death in 1978 she moved to Mankato where she resided until shortly before her death. During her life she enjoyed family ski vacations, travel, fashion, books, history, genealogy, music, playing bridge and her dogs (toy poodles).
Jeannine and Roger traveled overseas many times with Roger’s first cousin, the late Dr. Harold Basinger and his wife, Marge. It instilled a love for travel in Jeannine that enriched her life even after Roger’s death. She purchased and vacationed on the Mediterranean in an apartment in Malaga, Spain. Rode on the back of an elephant at the age of 70 in Thailand. Went up the coast of Maine on a schooner with her brother when they were both in their 70’s. When in her 80’s she took a cruise from Istanbul around the Black Sea, and also set foot in St. Petersburg, Russia while cruising the Baltic Sea.
Through genealogical research she discovered that she was related to the captain of the Mayflower and 2 others on board the ship, and also had a shipbuilding relative in Maine that built the Black Prince which fought a British ship during the Revolutionary War. She was fascinated by the place that her ancestors took in history.
She is survived by her 4 children David (Cheryl) Lehman, Zan (Suzanne) Lehman, Barbara (Brady) Jass, and Jannette Lehman, 6 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren. She will be dearly missed by her family and friends. A grave side service will be planned for a later date at the Mountain Lake Cemetery for all who wish to attend. Online condolences can be made at StrikeLifeTributes.com
