Norma Jeanne Marois O’Neal was born May 1, 1927 to Clara E. White Marois and Armand “Frenchy” Marois of Dodge Township, Iowa, and died March 25, 2007 in Richland, Washington, just 36 days shy of her 80th birthday.

At the age of 17, during WWII gas rationing, Jeanne drove her mother and younger siblings all the way from Iowa to Washington State, where her father had taken a job with the mysterious Hanford Project. She returned alone by train to Iowa, where she worked in a jewelry store briefly after high school and waited for her hometown sweetheart, Donald LeRoy O’Neal, to be discharged from the U.S. Army.

After they married, the young couple moved west to join Jeanne’s parents in what was to become Richland, Washington. Don worked at Hanford and Jeanne raised six children. She lived in their government “B house” for the next 60 years. Jeanne’s fondest memories were of her years as a wife and mother, going on camping trips, watching backyard fireworks, and taking long drives much like her early cross-country adventure at the age of 17.

Jeanne was preceded in death by her parents, her siblings Shirlee Marois Rickaby and Betty Jo Marois, her eldest daughter Linda Lee O’Neal Delawder, and her son-in-law Robert V. “Joe”/”Bob” Delawder.

She is survived by a sister, Barbara Ann Marois Ethell; a brother, Richard Marois; daughter Donna Lee “Dawn” O’Neal and partner Tom Binder of San Jose, California; daughter Peggy Jeanne O’Neal and husband Gerald “Jerry” Barnes of Huntington Beach, California, and Richland; son Daniel Steven O’Neal and wife Margaret and their family of San Jose, California; son Martin LeRoy O’Neal and wife Nancy Parsons of Richland; daughter Sally Dawn O’Neal Coates and husband Doug of Richland; daughter-in-law Melody Mae Lanman O’Neal of Richland; granddaughter Kandi Ann Delawder VanLoo and husband Brent of Newbury Park, California; grandson Robert Scott Delawder and wife Tamara of Pasco; granddaughter Ariel Mae O’Neal Valladeres and husband Jorge of Kennewick; granddaughter René Donali O’Neal of Richland and special friend Brock Smith of Pasco; grandson Mitchell William Coates and fiancée Sarah E. Smasne of Richland; great-granddaughters and grandson Nichole Nikki and Katelyn Kati, and Conner VanLoo of Newbury Park, California; great-granddaughter MacKenzie Delawder of Pasco; and the father of her children, Donald L. O’Neal of Kennewick.

Jeanne loved pets and animals of all kinds, and was happiest surrounded by images of wildlife, especially wolves. She always kept a cat or a dog, and they were an important part of her life. She enjoyed flowers and nature and spending time outdoors, especially at Mt. Rainier, which was her favorite thing about Washington State. She never really warmed up to the Tri-Cities, always threatening to move “back to civilization,” the Midwest.

The family wishes to thank those who were special friends to Jeanne in the last years of her life, including Beverlee Jochen, Joe Webb, Andra Frost, Joe Olsen, and Linda Harmon.

An informal memorial service will be held graveside at Richland’s Sunset Memorial Gardens at 11:00 a.m. Friday, March 30, with a reception following at her daughter’s home.