Jeanne Benedict Kuby

We celebrate the life of Jeanne Benedict Kuby, who passed away peacefully on the morning of Friday, April 8, 2022 in the Bay Area of Northern California.

Jeanne was born January 30, 1927 – her parents Ralph Benedict and Beatrice Armstrong Benedict of Erie, Pennsylvania. Early on, Jeanne enjoyed wide ranging educational experiences, including the Erie Day School, Franklin Elementary and Academy High in Erie, Oakwood School in Poughkeepsie, New York, and Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio.

Jeanne wed first husband, Robert Sprickman, in 1948, and produced two children, Robert Henry Sprickman II and the late Gae Lee Sprickman Walters Phinney. Jeanne worked at Erie’s Sterling Milk in their corporate office as Administrative Assistant to the Treasurer. Her impeccable sense of survival, organization and attention to detail were traits that complimented Jeanne’s sense of loyalty and dedication toward work, family and friends.

Jeanne was on the Board of Directors of the Erie Infant’s Home and the First Unitarian Church. She remarried in 1960 to Dennis G. Kuby of Cleveland, Ohio and they had a son, Paul Scott Kuby. When Dennis was ordained a Unitarian Minister, the family moved to Cleveland, Ohio and Jeanne was involved in promoting civil rights within the local community.

In 1967, Jeanne and family moved to Berkeley, California: husband Dennis now Vice President of the Starr King Theological School, Jeanne encouraging and supporting him throughout his career in the ministry. They moved to Sherman Oaks, California, where Dennis assumed role of minister for the Studio City Unitarian Church, Jeanne caring for son Scott and encouraging his education in writing and film.

The family returned to Berkeley where Jeanne rejoined the work force as the loan Payoff Manager for the Mason-McDuffie mortgage corporation, a company she was dedicated to for eleven years, prior to their relocation outside of Northern California. She chose to retire once the company moved, but kept active socially and embraced several charities for wildlife, women’s rights, human rights, and ecology.

Jeanne loved animals, Big Band music of her generation, and dancing. She spent her retirement enjoying traveling and communing with nature. She adopted Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again”, words for her plaque at the Erie Cemetery, where she joins husband Dennis. A teacher early in her life observed of young Jeanne in a report card, “Uses fists freely when annoyed,” yet as an independent and earthy woman, mother, daughter, wife, co-worker and friend, she used her wit and wisdom freely, inspiring those she admired and encouraged on her life’s journey.

Jeanne is survived by her two sons, three grandchildren and their families, and the many special memories she gave us.

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