Jessie Mae Finley, 99, of Springfield died Friday, July 14, 2006, at St. John's Hospital. She was born Dec. 9, 1906, in Danville, the daughter of James S. and Catherine Elizabeth Doolin Shultz Schultz. She married Dr. Alonzo H. Kenniebrew in 1929; he died in 1943. She married Theo E. "T.E." Finley in 1948; he died in 1988.
Mrs. Finley graduated from Danville High School and the Illinois College Conservatory of Music and studied at MacMurry College and the University of Illinois, among others. She served as an office nurse, medical stenographer and hospital superintendent for her husband's medical practice from 1925 to 1943. In 1941 she began as an employment interviewer and counselor with the Illinois Department of Labor and later worked as a determination specialist and supervisor with the Illinois Department of Mental Health. She retired from the lieutenant governor's Office of Senior Action in 1991.
Granddaughter of slaves, she founded the Voices of Love, Joy and Peace, a musical group created to help preserve the tradition of black spirituals in Springfield.
She was a member of the national and Springfield chapters of AARP, Beta Gamma chapter of Iota Phi Lambda Sorority, James Weldon Johnson Study Guild, the national, state and Springfield chapters of National Association of Colored Women's Club, Springfield Urban League and Guild, First Baptist Church in Danville and Zion Baptist Church, where she was a member of the Golden Agers Fellowship. She received the NAACP Webster Award for Community Service in 1975 and the Mayor's Art Award in 1982 and was named to the Springfield Senior Citizen's Hall of Fame in 1975, the annual Copley First Citizen Award in 1976 for her lifetime of extraordinary service, and the Illinois Senior Hall of Fame in 1994.
Survivors: son and daughter; five granddaughters; seven great-grandchildren.
Services: Zion Baptist Church, the Rev. Samuel Hale Jr. officiating. Burial: Oak Ridge Cemetery.
State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL) - Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Mrs. Finley graduated from Danville High School and the Illinois College Conservatory of Music and studied at MacMurry College and the University of Illinois, among others. She served as an office nurse, medical stenographer and hospital superintendent for her husband's medical practice from 1925 to 1943. In 1941 she began as an employment interviewer and counselor with the Illinois Department of Labor and later worked as a determination specialist and supervisor with the Illinois Department of Mental Health. She retired from the lieutenant governor's Office of Senior Action in 1991.
Granddaughter of slaves, she founded the Voices of Love, Joy and Peace, a musical group created to help preserve the tradition of black spirituals in Springfield.
She was a member of the national and Springfield chapters of AARP, Beta Gamma chapter of Iota Phi Lambda Sorority, James Weldon Johnson Study Guild, the national, state and Springfield chapters of National Association of Colored Women's Club, Springfield Urban League and Guild, First Baptist Church in Danville and Zion Baptist Church, where she was a member of the Golden Agers Fellowship. She received the NAACP Webster Award for Community Service in 1975 and the Mayor's Art Award in 1982 and was named to the Springfield Senior Citizen's Hall of Fame in 1975, the annual Copley First Citizen Award in 1976 for her lifetime of extraordinary service, and the Illinois Senior Hall of Fame in 1994.
Survivors: son and daughter; five granddaughters; seven great-grandchildren.
Services: Zion Baptist Church, the Rev. Samuel Hale Jr. officiating. Burial: Oak Ridge Cemetery.
State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL) - Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Jessie Mae Finley, 99, of Springfield died Friday, July 14, 2006, at St. John's Hospital. She was born Dec. 9, 1906, in Danville, the daughter of James S. and Catherine Elizabeth Doolin Shultz Schultz. She married Dr. Alonzo H. Kenniebrew in 1929; he died in 1943. She married Theo E. "T.E." Finley in 1948; he died in 1988.
Mrs. Finley graduated from Danville High School and the Illinois College Conservatory of Music and studied at MacMurry College and the University of Illinois, among others. She served as an office nurse, medical stenographer and hospital superintendent for her husband's medical practice from 1925 to 1943. In 1941 she began as an employment interviewer and counselor with the Illinois Department of Labor and later worked as a determination specialist and supervisor with the Illinois Department of Mental Health. She retired from the lieutenant governor's Office of Senior Action in 1991.
Granddaughter of slaves, she founded the Voices of Love, Joy and Peace, a musical group created to help preserve the tradition of black spirituals in Springfield.
She was a member of the national and Springfield chapters of AARP, Beta Gamma chapter of Iota Phi Lambda Sorority, James Weldon Johnson Study Guild, the national, state and Springfield chapters of National Association of Colored Women's Club, Springfield Urban League and Guild, First Baptist Church in Danville and Zion Baptist Church, where she was a member of the Golden Agers Fellowship. She received the NAACP Webster Award for Community Service in 1975 and the Mayor's Art Award in 1982 and was named to the Springfield Senior Citizen's Hall of Fame in 1975, the annual Copley First Citizen Award in 1976 for her lifetime of extraordinary service, and the Illinois Senior Hall of Fame in 1994.
Survivors: son and daughter; five granddaughters; seven great-grandchildren.
Services: Zion Baptist Church, the Rev. Samuel Hale Jr. officiating. Burial: Oak Ridge Cemetery.
State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL) - Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Mrs. Finley graduated from Danville High School and the Illinois College Conservatory of Music and studied at MacMurry College and the University of Illinois, among others. She served as an office nurse, medical stenographer and hospital superintendent for her husband's medical practice from 1925 to 1943. In 1941 she began as an employment interviewer and counselor with the Illinois Department of Labor and later worked as a determination specialist and supervisor with the Illinois Department of Mental Health. She retired from the lieutenant governor's Office of Senior Action in 1991.
Granddaughter of slaves, she founded the Voices of Love, Joy and Peace, a musical group created to help preserve the tradition of black spirituals in Springfield.
She was a member of the national and Springfield chapters of AARP, Beta Gamma chapter of Iota Phi Lambda Sorority, James Weldon Johnson Study Guild, the national, state and Springfield chapters of National Association of Colored Women's Club, Springfield Urban League and Guild, First Baptist Church in Danville and Zion Baptist Church, where she was a member of the Golden Agers Fellowship. She received the NAACP Webster Award for Community Service in 1975 and the Mayor's Art Award in 1982 and was named to the Springfield Senior Citizen's Hall of Fame in 1975, the annual Copley First Citizen Award in 1976 for her lifetime of extraordinary service, and the Illinois Senior Hall of Fame in 1994.
Survivors: son and daughter; five granddaughters; seven great-grandchildren.
Services: Zion Baptist Church, the Rev. Samuel Hale Jr. officiating. Burial: Oak Ridge Cemetery.
State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL) - Tuesday, July 18, 2006
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