Jeannette Louise Cantrell

Jeannette Lyon-Robinson-Cantrell was born on May 23, 1925, in Bethel, Minnesota. She passed away on April 28th, 2025, in the spring of her 100th year. A woman of quiet resolve and deep strength, she lived a long, principled life shaped by loyalty, self-reliance, commitment, and steadfast love.

Jeannette grew up in a small farm town and graduated high school in a twelve-student classroom of varying grades and ages. Despite these meager beginnings her intellect and determination were unmistakable from the start. In her senior year of High School, she earned the highest scores on Minnesota’s statewide mathematics aptitude test—a distinction she remembered with pride. While this was a monumental moment in her youth, it was not the defining one.

After high school, Jeannette began a short career as a secretary, working a variety of jobs before eventually finding her way to Seattle, where she was employed by Northwestern Airlines. She told stories of those early days of commercial flight—of getting sick in airplanes and adjusting to the novelty of air travel. Living near her elder brother Jim, recently discharged from the Marines, only deepened her sense of duty and determination. More than anything, Jeannette wanted to serve in the military. It was her dream, her calling. In August 1945, she received her long-hoped-for call to duty from the United States Army and was accepted into the Women’s Army Corps during the final days of World War II. The letter was dated August 9, and just ten days later—following the official end of the war—she was honorably discharged. She was devastated. Though her service was brief, her acceptance into the Navy remained one of the proudest and most defining achievements of her youth. It reflected her strength, patriotism, and a readiness to meet the world head-on—qualities that would become the thread holding together the fabric of her long life.

Undeterred by Minnesota’s winter chill she returned to St. Paul in the wake of the war, Jeannette carried both the pride of her enlistment and the heartbreak of its brevity. Though the dream of military service had slipped away, she moved forward with characteristic resolve and grace. Soon after, she met the love of her life, LaRoy Robinson. They were married in her parents’ home on December 27, 1947. Their marriage of 56 years was grounded in devotion, respect, adoration, and unwavering commitment. His passing in 2003 marked the most profound and lasting loss of her life.

Together, they raised three sons—John, Sonny Boy (Mark), and Lee—and built a home filled with structure, care, and steadfast love. Jeannette’s devotion to her family was unwavering. She was a skilled homemaker who took great pride in running a beautiful and orderly household. She loved to sew, cook, and dance—and she was especially in her element when hosting others. Over the decades, she prepared and served hundreds of dinner parties, thriving in the rhythm and ritual of entertaining. Her hospitality was gracious, polished, and rarely forgotten by those who experienced it.

In their later life, Jeannette and LaRoy lived overseas while he served as Vice President of International Sales for Continental Machines. They made homes in Belgium, Germany, and France—places Jeannette grew to love deeply. She embraced the culture, the food, the pace of life, and the chance to explore the world with the man she adored.

Jeannette was also a devoted grandmother, and nothing brought her more joy than having her grandchildren under one roof. She spent countless summers and Christmases hosting the growing broods of her sons, filling the house with food, music, and the comforting routines she had perfected over decades. Her home became a place of tradition—where cousins played, pies cooled on the counter, and stories were passed down over long dinners. These gatherings were her gift, and her way of keeping the family close.

In a bold and unexpected turn later in life, Jeannette remarried at the age of 89, joining her life with Bruce Cantrell. Their marriage, though short, brought her steadiness, companionship, and care until his passing in 2018.

Jeannette lived through a century of remarkable change. She witnessed the Great Depression, World War II, the civil rights movement, the moon landing, the birth of the digital age, and a global pandemic. She survived personal loss, sweeping cultural shifts, and the everyday trials of a long life with courage and grace. Through it all, she carried herself with steady elegance.

Jeannette was not sentimental—she was steady, certain, and unshakable in the face of life’s weightiest hardships. She loved deeply, especially LaRoy, and expressed it through commitment, presence, and a clear sense of responsibility. She leaves behind a family who knew her strength and will, and who will remember it as a lasting example of how to live.

Jeannette is survived in death by two sons: Sonny Boy (Beth) Robinson, and Lee (Adelaide) Robinson; grandchildren: Shay Robinson, Asa Robinson, Chelsea Robinson, Angelica (Lee) Backer, Genevieve (Nathan) Oswald, Jennifer (Jeff) Fegan, and Jennifer Avina; and by her great-grandchildren: Natalya Quintanilla, Lukas Backer, Tatyana Quintanilla, and Levi Backer; Racheal Blake, and William Blake; Harry Fegan, Sam Fegan, and Claire Fegan. She watched over their lives with pride and joy.

She is preceded in death by her husbands’ LaRoy Robinson and Bruce Cantrell; her brothers Jim Lyon, Morris Lyon, and Larry Lyon; her son John Robinson; and countless friends whom she adored. She will be remembered with love.