Inez Jennings' Obituary
Inez Lucinda Haywood Jennings, 74, of Richmond, CA transitioned from this world on Thursday, June 27th, peacefully at home with family at bedside. She leaves behind a legacy of kindness, love, creativity, recipes and a joy for family and friends.
Inez was married to her beloved husband of 53 years, Mose Alphonso Jennings, who was the love of her life. She is also survived by her mother, Ruby Daisy Foster and step-father, Douglas Foster of Yuba City, CA; her daughters, Kesha Hitchrick (Terry) of Pleasant Hill, CA and Karina Jarrell (Donovan) of Hercules, CA; her grandchildren; Naimah Jennings-Murray (Keith), Kardonn Jarrell, Sophia Hitchrick and Myles Hitchrick and her siblings; Jeffrey Haywood of London, Valda Graham, Leo Haywood and Mike Haywood of Toronto Canada and Erica Hamilton of Hauppauge, N.Y. Her step-siblings, Diahann Foster-Joyner and Douglas Fairbanks Foster of Pennsylvania. Her loving aunts Alva of Fairfield, CA and Jean of Toronto, Canada; nieces and nephews Jessica, Carl, Irika, Jeanine, Kamula, Brandon, Dawn, Tina Marie, Michael, Michelle, Justine and Eric.
She was welcomed into her next stage by her father, Eric Haywood, step-mother Dawn Penelope Haywood, sister Nicola, aunts Gloria, Shelia, and Val; niece Natasha Harrison and her mother and father in-law, Mose Jennings and Alice Eubanks-Jennings.
Inez was born in London on October 21,1949 and spent her early childhood there. The Haywood family emigrated to Canada from Liverpool to Montreal aboard RMS Empress of Canada in August 1967. After attending public schools in Canada, Inez moved to Brooklyn, New York where she enjoyed gaining her independence, exploring a new city and the Jamaican house parties thrown by her cousin. It was while she was living in Brooklyn that she filled in for her cousin on a blind date at Otis Air Force Base, Massachusetts. That blind date resulted in an engagement after three months and a life full of love with her husband Mose. Inez said that she felt as if her life started when she met him and what a beautiful life it was. Their love took them to New Jersey, North Carolina, Virginia and Wisconsin before settling in California in 1988. Inez loved their shared hobby of travel to places including Hawaii, Mexico, Jamaica, England, and France. In May 2019, they spent three weeks in Italy (Tuscany and Amalfi Coast) with friends and enjoyed the high-speed rail with stops in Rome and Naples. Inez loved trains, especially the Eurostar between France and England. She loved the numerous road trips they took, such as the one to see the total solar eclipse in Madras, Oregon in 2017.
She retired from a thirty-year career as a receptionist/clerical worker where she was loved by her co-workers and was known for being a source of joy in the office especially around holidays where she was known for her decorations.
She was renowned for her baking, notably her peanut butter cookies, chocolate chip cookies, and banana bread. Inez had a variety of interests including; decorating, painting, crocheting, traveling, and making her own greeting cards that she regularly sent out, keeping the post office open with her numerous letters to people all over the world. She loved taking five-mile walks around the Richmond Marina, gardening, visiting her family all over the world, making scrapbooks and collages, iPhone photography, especially of landscapes, flowers and family. In addition, she loved to create tablescapes, read biographies, tea time, and calligraphy. Inez was a movie buff. She enjoyed going to the movies and watching Netflix and Hallmark Channel. Listening to her laugh and react to movies was a source of enjoyment for the family. She was a member of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. She loved music (reggae, jazz, & classical), and chocolate eclairs. Her love of genealogy led to her becoming the family documentarian. Inez was such a caring person it was normal for her to send out her various positive thoughts in text messages to family and friends even when she was dealing with her progressive illness. She loved to collect photos, teapots and teacups, teddy bears, and decorative tiles from her travels. She collected many friends along the way including lifelong friends from her work commutes on BART.
Her favorite saying, “it could be worse” is a shining example of her constant positive outlook on life. Her optimism and positive attitude resulted in her getting through rounds of chemotherapy and radiation with incredible resiliency, earning her the title of “star patient” from her oncologist. Though she was exhausted and frustrated by hospital visits and stays, her kindness and friendliness resulted in some doctors staying in her room much longer than required in order to just have a normal conversation with her. Nurses frequently requested that they be assigned as her nurse for the shift. Even in the most exhausting days of her illness, she was always concerned about others and demonstrated incredible strength.
She was just an exceptional person, truly kind and very modest. Her latest interest was writing her “memoir” which she was unable to complete.
Inez’s wish was that those she left behind will enjoy their lives and be happy. She was very hopeful that a cure will be found for pancreatic cancer. To honor her memory, feel free to donate to pancreatic cancer research and support for pancreatic cancer patients and their families in her name at the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, https://pancan.org
Her rest is well earned.
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