On Thursday May 21, 2020, Jenny Youssi, loving wife & mother of sons Andy & Charles passed away peacefully at age 71. She was a devoted wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt & friend to many.
Jenny was born May 8, 1949 in Elgin IL to Howard & Virginia Flora and graduated from Elgin High School in 1967. She & John Youssi were married in 1973.
Jenny is survived by loving husband John of 46 years, sons Andrew Youssi, Vancouver BC, & Charles Youssi, Chicago IL, and brothers Charles Flora, Steve Flora, Scott Flora, & Mike Flora.
She is preceded in death by her father, mother, and sister Candice Lee Hensley.
Her passions were many including family, AKC dog shows, bird enthusiast, the arts, the outdoors, & her wonderful talents in the kitchen.
John & Jenny worked & raised their family in Gilberts IL before moving to E. Tennessee in 2015.
She’d describe herself as a mom & homemaker, but was always on call for husband/illustrator John & donned many caps over the years including artist rep, model, model ‘wrangler’, bookkeeper, photographer, project manager, product chef, prop maker, and messenger.
Jenny’s life-long love of animals eventually led her to the dog show ring in 1974. She was an active member of The English Setter Club of America and The Western English Setter Club for over 45 yrs serving as president of WESC & holding other offices, in addition to yearly fund raising and setter rescue throughout her life. She was most proud of her top winning dog ‘Timbertrail Riptide’ who climbed to #2 English Setter in the nation.
Always a supporter of the arts Jenny sprang into action when art was cut from her son Charles’ curriculum. She & 2 friends organized & ran art classes for grades 1-6 for 2 years before passing it on to others. In both her sons’ high school theatre endeavors, Jenny was very involved not only as audience member, but often helped design/make costumes and encourage the casts.
Jenny made sure their home was always welcome to their sons’ friends, whom some described as a 2nd mom.
She loved the local arts & enjoyed baking for the McKinney Center for the Arts, touring the mountains and parks, as well as visiting local galleries & shops, always accompanied by their 2 dogs Beatrix & Belle.
Holidays were a ‘big deal’ for Jenny with Christmas topping the bill. Large dinners attended by 4 generations were a common event accompanied by cheerful family lore & laughter. Much to her son’s playful debate, she preferred “anything in print” to include “lots of quotation marks.”
Jenny’s welcome smile, friendly spirit, humor, enthusiasm, & kindness will be sincerely missed.
A memorial Service will be held at Grandview Christian Church, 300 University Pkwy, Johnson City, TN. Details to be determined.
In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be sent to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place Memphis, TN 38105.