116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Obituaries
The Gazette publishes obituaries on a daily basis. Use the search field above to search for obituaries by name or keyword. Readers can submit an obituary or submit a milestone to The Gazette. The obituary must be submitted before 1 p.m. for publication on thegazette.com at 6 p.m. and in the daily edition the next day, with the exception of obituaries for Sunday publication, which must be submitted by 1 p.m. on Fridays.
Jeanette Beney
JEANETTE C. BENEY
Iowa City
Jeanette C. Beney, 86, died peacefully Saturday, Jan. 12, 2019, following a brief illness. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 1:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 18, at St. Mary's Catholic Church with Father Steven Witt officiating. Burial will be at
St. Joseph Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the American Diabetes Association.
Jeanette was born April 15, 1932, in Niagara Falls, N.Y., the daughter of Philip and Rose (Lovecchio) Novara. On May 28, 1955, Jeanette married Robert Beney in Niagara Falls. Jeanette was employed as a chemical lab technician in Niagara Falls prior to her marriage in 1955. She continued to work as a lab tech until starting her own family about a year later. She was a brilliant chemist who very likely would have made her mark in science, but instead chose to make her mark in a more traditional path, that of a devoted and loving wife and mother.
Jeanette was a lifelong Catholic and a member of St. Mary's Church since moving to Iowa City in 1971. Jeanette grew up in a very tight-knit family in Niagara Falls. She came to appreciate early in her life that "family is everything."
Jeanette was eternally devoted to her family, and her family was paramount in her life. Jeanette was a wonderful wife and a most thoughtful and generous mother. Jeanette enjoyed time spent reading, cooking and doing word puzzles. She read mostly nonfiction and over the years the home was filled with the many books she'd read. Being the youngest in the family, Jeanette was never "taught" how to cook. She learned to cook and bake by just watching her mother, who cooked without using a recipe. Cooking intuitively with just the right combination of "art" and "science," everything she made was exceptional. Jeanette was kind and generous to everyone she met. She will be dearly missed by all who knew her.
Jeanette is survived by her five sons, David (Cindy), Dennis (Amy), Paul and Christopher, all of Iowa City, and Thomas (Shukuan) of Seattle; three grandchildren, Brian and Megan Kilgore (Matthew) and Kaitlyn; one stepgrandson, Jacob; and her brother, Samuel (Eleanor) Novara of Niagara Falls.
Jeanette was preceded by her parents; her husband in 2013; and four sisters, Lucy Porreca, Antoinette Novara, Fannie Rotella Smeadala and Teresa Rotella.
Online condolences and memories may be left for the family at www.lensingfuneral.com.
Daily Newsletters