Jeanette Kaari

Jeanette Kaari passed away at home on October 1, 2018.

She was 84 years old, born February 26, 1934 at Patterson Army Hospital on Ft. Monmouth in Oceanport, NJ.

She was the oldest of ten children to her beloved parents, Donald and Thelma Ullery. Jeanette was preceded in death by her husband, Raymond Kaari Sr., her daughter Pamela who left our world as a child so many years ago, and her adult son Lester.

She is survived by her adult children Raymond and his fiancé Nancy, Kristian and his wife Kelly, and Eric and his wife Kristy. She is also survived by her grandchildren: Jennifer, Jessica, Zachary, James and Lisa, and many loving extended family members and friends.

Having grown up in both Red Bank and Toms River, she remained a Toms River resident for most of her adult life. She held several jobs over the course of her life, including clerical work at Ft. Monmouth, secretarial work for US Homes, and lastly as a salesperson for many years at Holiday City at Berkley until her retirement in 2001.

Jeanette loved being a mother and later a grandmother. She especially loved entertaining family and friends. She took pride in her home. Over many years her house had, from time to time, also become a home for many of her brothers and sisters, and it was often the gathering point for visits, holidays and summer parties. Many of these years and events were among her fondest memories. As a collector of knick-knacks, some silly and others sentimental, nearly every inch of space in her home held a memory of something or someone special for her.

An avid Elvis fan, she would have found it quite fitting for her family to know that, although not at all planned, Elvis was playing in the background at the time of her passing.

Believing that it was more important for loved ones and friends to gather happily in life, it was her desire to not have a memorial service nor funeral. She had instead wished to be cremated and her ashes to be spread at the places of her choosing. It was her hope that her family would continue to gather as the years go by so that the stories and memories of her, as well as all of the others who have been lost, would be kept alive.

Having been a devoted cat owner most of her life, she would have preferred that in lieu of flowers, a donation could be made to Animal Birth Control Inc. of Ocean County (ABC) (732-920-3108), from where she adopted her cats, or perhaps a similar charity of one’s choice.

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