Jeanne L. Oliver

Jeanne L. Oliver has passed from this mortal realm on the 26th of September 2023 after surviving a series of life and death fights with various medical issues, any of which individually would have killed a normal octogenarian.  It should be noted that she was winning every single fight handily until they ganged up on herand even then, it was close.  Jeanne was born July 16, 1943 in Rockford, Illinois, the daughter of Louis and Inez.  Jeanne attended the public schools in Rockford, Illinois, graduating from West Rockford in 1961.   She married James G. Oliver and to this union, one child Barry Scot was born.  Her family lived in several towns in Illinois, from Rockford to Divernon, Prairie du Rocher then Springfield and finally Riverton.  While in Prairie du Rocher, she was active in the historical re-enactment activities centered around Fort de Chartres. Being from Rockford, it was sort of inevitable that she was a die hard Bears fan.  

By 1981, the family was making their home in Riverton, IL and during this time, Jeanne was employed as a Reference Librarian at the Illinois State Library (ISL), Springfield. In December, 1990, she received her BA in Management with highest honors from Sangamon State University (now University of Illinois @ Springfield (UIS) after seemingly endless night classes.  During her tenure at the ISL, she was tapped by the Library Director to administer the newly established US Patent Office Depository Library at the Illinois State Library.  Always ready and willing to accept a challenge, Jeanne travelled to Falls Church, Virginia for training and she became THE “go to person” for scores of library patrons who were seeking to patent their inventions.  She travelled across the state providing workshops through the IL Library Systemnetwork on the patenting process for fledgling inventors.  One of the most memorable patents that she helped to shepherd through the process was one for a model to be used for instruction in breast self-examination for early breast cancer detection.  

Despite her Midwestern roots, in 1992 Jeanne moved to Falls Church, VA (Washington DC suburb) where she had accepted a position with the US Patent and Trademark Office.  She thrived in that position receiving multiple civilian awards such as The US Dept of Commerce Silver Medal, Hammer award, USPTO Bronze Medal all for excellence in the performance in her duties which include the creation of a unified call center for the entire agency.  

In 2003 Jeanne was asked to be an administrator for the newly created Transportation Security Administration (TSA).  While there she was awarded a DHS/TSA Silver medal, for creating the TSA unified call center from scratch, and to this day, if you call the TSA, you are routed through the phone system she created. Jeanne remained with TSA until her retirement in 2008.  Jeanne was also an avid traveler, completely filling one passport with trips all over the world and requiring a second.  Her travel club once voted her most likely to meet her demise by being run over by a cruise ship.    

In 2015, She returned to Springfield and resided at Concordia Village.  Jeanne was such a gregarious and fun-loving person who never met a stranger and always aimed to make everyone feel at home and at ease.  Just 3 years after moving in she was elected the President of the Residents’ Council in 2018 and remained in that capacity until 2020.  She assisted in the review and design of the Village guest rooms while ignoring all posted scooter speed limits around the campus.  In addition, she enjoyed volunteering for many of the staff and residents’ programs and events including the employee picnic, Easter egg hunts for residents and grandchildren, playing games and watching movies with residents and their families.  She was well known and beloved by many throughout Concordia Village. Jeanne was preceded in passing by her former husband James in 2014.  She leaves her son Barry, kids and grandkids, and the legion of friends as she moves on to bring some organization to the eternal afterlife.

Visitation will be Monday, October 2, 2023 from 9:30 am till time of Memorial Service at 11:00 am at Concordia Village, 4101 W. Iles, Springfield. A reception will follow.

Donations in lieu of flowers can be made to the Concordia Village Scholarship Fund.

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