Robert Francis Jene

He is preceded in death by three siblings, Rosemarie, Richard and Joann, the mother of his children, Loretta (Ward) and is the last of his family with direct agricultural ties to pass. He was the dedicated father of four children, Paul (Jill), David (LeCola-former), Lisa (Spencer-former) and Christopher, the humorous grandpa of five grandchildren, Arvo, Nerissa, Nendin, Lauren and Asher and the endearing uncle Bob to countless family and community members.

He grew up on the Jene family farm in Eau Claire Wisconsin, born May 6, 1933 to John and Jane (Gleeson) Jene. He graduated from (now) Regis High School in 1951 and from Marquette University with a degree in Psychology in 1960. A proud veteran, he served our country during the Korean War from 1953 until 1955.

He was a long time subscriber to the CSO, CIFF, Joffrey Ballet and passionate educator on the economic principles of land tax reform, framed by the innovative economist and social reformer, Henry George. He never missed his favorite annual musical events including the Milwaukee Irish Fest in Milwaukee, WI, the Fox Valley Folk Music and Storytelling Festival in Geneva, IL, the Blues Fest in Chicago's Grant Park and rarely missed the University of Chicago Folk Fest in Hyde Park.

In his retirement, he enjoyed travelling to Vienna, Austria, vacationing at Christmas Mountain in Wisconsin Dells and attending free lectures across the Chicagoland area. One of his favorite activities as a retiree was to rank senior living facilities by their free pie samples - Brookdale Oak Park always came in at the top of the list.

Bob was also an avid camper, hiker and biker. He participated annually in Chicago's annual bike the drive, with all the t-shirts to prove it! He also led many architectural bike tours of Chicago's famous downtown architecture. He was a bit of an orator in his day as well participating in and presenting at many Futurist Society conferences on what could be in our not so distance future if we chose to use technology with the right purpose.

He will most notably be remembered by family for being that guy who never let anything stop him, no matter what. Bob-"the tank"-O will be dearly missed by all who knew him.

A Mass of Christian Burial will take place at 10:30am November 25, 2023 at St Patrick Parish, 316 Fulton Street, Eau Claire, with Father James Kurzynski officiating. Visitation will be held 1 hour prior to the mass at the church. Burial will be at St. Patrick Cemetery, Eau Claire with military honors performed.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to St Labre Indian School at https://give.stlabre.org/page/122315/donate/1?CPID=23TWEB&SRC=23TWEBTWEB

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at https://obituaries.neptunesociety.com/obituaries/rolling-meadows-il/robert-jene-11507806/add-memory for the Jene family.
 

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