Jeanetta F. Desantis

Portsmouth, RI - Jeannetta ?Jean? F. Henderson DeSantis, 92, of Donna Drive, Portsmouth, RI, died Wednesday, December 12, 2007 at Grand Islander Health Care Center, Middletown, RI. She was the wife of the late John Michael DeSantis. Born in Kamrar, IA on August 20, 1915, she was the daughter of the late Harold and Bernice Bonney Henderson.Jean moved to Albert Lea, MN as a young girl and graduated from high school in 1933. She then moved to Sacramento, CA with her family. She met her husband John while he was working at McClelland Air Force Base, and after WWII they returned to the DeSantis home in Newport and began their family on Spring Street. Mrs. DeSantis went to work at the Naval Underwater Systems Center in 1961 retiring in 1977. She was an accomplished oil painter and volunteered as a Girl Scout Leader. Mrs. DeSantis was an avid reader and traveler and a life-long swimmer. She is survived by her daughter Diane M. McCaffrey and her husband Dr. Charles F. McCaffrey of Portsmouth, RI, her granddaughter Michelle Rodrigues and husband Kevin Rodrigues and her great grandsons Will and Jacob, all of Warren, RI.She was the mother of the late John M. DeSantis, Jr., and the sister of the late Donald Henderson, William Henderson and Bonney Novy. A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, December 15 at 10:00am in Memorial Funeral Home, 375 Broadway, Newport. Relatives and friends are invited to attend. Burial will be private. Donations in her memory may be made to the Boys and Girls Club of Newport County, 95 Church Street, Newport, RI 02840.