Jeanne Marie Jacobsen

FORT WORTH — Jeanne Marie Jacobsen, born on Jan. 16, 1954, in Lyons, Ill., passed away on Wednesday, March 18, 2015, at the age of 61.
Celebration of life: 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday at Brown Owens & Brumley Family Funeral Home. Another celebration of life will be held 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 25, at Ivans-Moravecek Funeral Home, 80 East Burlington St., Riverside, Ill. 60546.
Jeanne was the beloved daughter of Robert and Marian Jacobsen; sister of Scott and John Jacobsen; cousin of Kathy Maltese and Carole Pawlowski, Francis Hefele, Therese-Ann Sheldon, Mary Jo Tsimbides, Mary Ann Brunke, Rita Kovar, Greg Settecase, Philip Settecase, Robert Settecase, and Bobby and Harvey Jacobsen; aunt to nephews and nieces, Alex, T.J., Remy, Kelsey, Chris, Meghan, David, Kristen and Gabe; the best friend of her most cherished pets, past and present, Tiny the cat, Stella, Emma, Zoe, Gracie, Leo, and Ollie the dogs, Ellie Mae and Pico the parrots, Sybil and Pumpkin the parrolets, Chocko the horse and further more, the best keeper to all of the many kinds of animals who benefited from her extraordinary care at the zoos where she spent her life working.
Jeannie probably started loving animals the day her mom brought her home from the hospital. After graduating from Nazareth High School in the Chicago area, she did a couple of years of course work at Western Illinois University. In the end though, her vocation was animals and their well-being. She started at Brookfield Zoo in Illinois and later had a long and satisfying career as a keeper at the Fort Worth Zoo. She cared for animals big and small from tiny cats and birds to cheetahs, elephants, giraffes and, of course, for the rhinos, her greatest love.
Jeanne was a staunch conservationist and friend of the earth. As independent as a person can get, she would venture off into the wilderness in her canoe and enjoy nature where it was the most pristine, some times all by herself (much to the chagrin of her mom!). She was a proud member of and contributor to several organizations that promoted the welfare of animals and the protection of the environment. In time, through her dedication to her work, Jeannie became a respected expert in rhino care and preservation and in that vein was invited both to Africa, to consult on several black rhino expeditions, and to accompany animal expert Jack Hanna to Nepal on a baby white rhino conservation effort.
Her life has been cut off much too short, and we will all miss her more than we can know.

BROWN, OWENS & BRUMLEY
Family Funeral Home & Crematory
425 S. Henderson, 817-335-4557