Obituary of Jannisse A. Chesney

December 13, 1959 – March 22, 2021

Jannisse A. Chesney.  Age 61 of Gibraltar.

Beloved mother of Allison (Shawn) Thomas, Julianne (Bill) Morrison and Elizabeth Chesney.  Loving grandmother of Abigale, Brayden, Benjamin, Oliver, Juni, Cherrisse, Joey, Aubrey and new arrival Amelia expected in June 2021.  Dearest sister of Kenneth Miller, the late Frederick Miller and the late Cherrisse Filbert.  Dear aunt of Corrinne, Joseph and Michelle. 

Family Tribute ~

A beautiful little girl with vibrant red hair whose name was Jannisse Annette Miller was born December 13th, 1959. Her parents were Lorraine and Frederick Miller. Jannisse was 1 of 4 kids. She was the baby sister to her 3 siblings. Fred was the eldest brother, followed by Kenneth, the 2nd oldest brother. Next in line was Cherrisse, her older sister. 

Jannisse grew up in a loving home with her 3 siblings. For a few years, they lived in Mexico while her dad worked there with Chrysler Automotive and enjoyed their time there with their family dog “Lassie.” They moved back to the states and came back to Downriver where she finished growing up on Tenth Street in Wyandotte near Joe’s Meat Market. 

She attended Gabriel Richard High School and graduated in 1977. After graduation later that year, Jannisse was hired at RL Polk, later named IHS Markit, where she would work for 41 years and became one of the top Account Managers for her customers from Ford, GM, Chrysler, and others where she managed all the recalls from the automotive groups. 

2 years later, she married Jim Chesney who she dated in high school. They would be married for 25 years. Her first adventure was taking her honeymoon traveling across the country from Michigan to California on the back of the motorcycle with Jim. They camped along the way and visited family in California. Returning home to Michigan, they started their life in Riverview where they lived for 6 years. Realizing they needed more space to start a family, they bought their home in Gibraltar where they would raise their 3 beautiful daughters. 

Allison Marie was their 1st, followed by Julianne Marie 3 years later, and Elizabeth Marie a surprise 2 years after Julie following their vacation in California visiting Jim’s family. Now their family brood was complete. 

Who was Jannisse to her girls? She was their beautiful, kind, hardworking mother. Jannisse but she was the mom who made all their birthday cakes; making each and every birthday special. Jannisse was definitely the “hostess with the mostest” as my mother used to say. She was always making sure everyone was taken care of. 

“Do you have your drink, what can I get you?” She hosted all the family gatherings, cooking all day. When you walked into her house your senses would be awakened with her delicious food that she had cooked with love all day. There were many family recipes, but I’m sure when I say everyone can agree; our favorite family memory of food is our family tradition of making meat pies together at Christmas. Here are a few to strike your memory and taste buds: her Swedish meatballs, cheesy potatoes, city chicken, stuffed cabbage, lasagna, kielbasa, and sauerkraut.

You never left hungry and you might have to loosen your button after dinner. We shared lots of memories during the summer with all the BBQ’s and she just LOVED the 4th of July. She definitely decorated everything and it was all color-coordinated. Everything was red, white, and blue — even her outfit!

Every spring she took such great pride in planting all her flowers. She planted several flower beds, not only in her front yard but also in her backyard. Hanging baskets were everywhere. It was such hard work, but she had such pride after it was done. One year, she was nominated for the yard of the year! It was a perfect backyard Oasis overlooking the canal with the Tiki Torches flickering in the background. Finishing the evening with backyard fires was perfect!

When the girls started school, she became the Holiday room mom at Parson’s elementary. She would organize all of the holiday parties, always baking cupcakes. She attended 5th-grade camp with all 3 girls. She almost lost the opportunity to go with Lizzy to camp, but she wasn’t taking no for an answer so she conned Mr. Mobley into letting her go with her last child. “I can’t miss 5th-grade camp with Lizzy!” Attending 5th-grade camp was the top amongst the parents. Well, she achieved it with all 3! She was also a Girl Scout leader for 5 years and was even the cookie mom before with all those cases of cookies in her living room. 

Another job that she took pride in was volunteering as a Cheer Mom for Allison. She and the other moms would organize the food for competitions. They would make all kinds of cheer crafts from homemade blankets to decorations with homemade megaphones with each girl’s name on it. 

Jannisse worked a 5 day work week and managed to juggle running to cheer with Allison, Gymnastics, Ice Skating for all 3, getting into costumes and soccer with all 3, softball, and swimming with Lizzy. She made all the Halloween costumes and sewed on sequins for ice show costumes. 

When she attended their games, you could always tell Jannisse was there. She was proud of her girls that she would be the loudest screamer in the crowd. She wanted you to know that was her daughter's and how proud she was! No matter how tired she was, she always had a smile on her face and never missed out on an event with her kids!

Over the years, Jannisse came up with many nicknames and catchphrases too! Nicknames for the girls— “Al, Ju, Liz,” as she called them to come downstairs. Tiger, their beloved kitty was “Tigga da boots,” Cubby the fur ball kitty was “Soo Vlox a box of rocks.” 

During dinners or cookouts, she would say, “Whose water? Whose coke?” Later she made us start writing our name with a sharpie on our cups or bottles. She was not only there for her girls, but she was also there for me and my brother Joey too! She was there for me when I met Lito and when we got married. She helped support and guide me. She said to me, “I can never take your mom’s place, but yes I can definitely be there for you and your brother. I will always be there for you both no matter what!” 

She was always such a great listener; you could call her about anything. She gave advice or guidance on what to do with your money, or how to get that pesky stain out of your laundry to advice on your love life. She always made herself available to you. She was always upbeat. For example, answering the phone when Lizzy would call she would say “Hi Wizzer, what’s going on?” She also had the habit of buying extra of everything. “Candles, I have a ton of candles!” She had a stockpile of wrapping paper too! “Don’t buy wrapping paper, I have enough for Santa and all of his elves!” 

When going on a trip, you could just go to her house. She would have everything from soap to razors, to toothpaste; you name it! She also had a lot of tents! This family loved to camp. When all of us were younger, we spent many summers camping on Lake Margrethe in Grayling Michigan. She continued her love of camping with her grandkids; Abby, Benny, Brayden, Oliver, and of course, her grand-dog “Sadie” too! They would go to Fremont, Indiana at Yogi Bear Campground on Barton Lake. She absolutely loved being with her family camping and making memories. 

Another love she had over the years was Nascar. She and her great friend Jay continued on her passion of going out to MIS Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. She loved to watch the race and would camp out all weekend. She was a Nascar fan for over 30-some years. She never got tired of the sound of engines roaring and racing by, or the traffic they would be in to get out to MIS.

Her grandkids though, that was a special love. 8 humans, and 1 grand-dog Sadie. Julie’s Benny and Oliver. Allison’s Abby, Brayden and Juni, Cherrisse, Joey, and Aubrey. A special love; she would do anything for them. She was there when they all came into this world and continued to be there for them even when she wasn’t feeling well from her treatment. She would come to stay if Shawn got called in to Plow in the middle of the night. She went to Great Wolf Lodge with the girls and the family.

She had plans to go to many places. She traveled to Jamaica in January 2019 with Jay and had the absolute best time she said! She traveled down to Florida to come to see Juni, Cherrisse, and me in Lito and we rang in the New Year in January 2020. She had made plans with Lizzy to go to Glacier National Park this August. She was really trying to be spontaneous despite covid. She wanted to see our beautiful world. She always wanted to see the Northern Lights. She truly loved being outdoors and appreciating this world’s awesome wonders. 

Jannisse had a few songs that she loved and truly described who she was — “1999” by Prince because she enjoyed each moment and lived to the fullest as if it were her last. Laughing with her was the best! We would laugh so hard you couldn’t breathe. 

“We are Family” by Sister Sledge because to her, family was everything and that’s what she lived for!

“Celebration” — Kool and the Gang because she truly celebrated life and everyone she knew and loved and made you feel so special. To quote “so bring your good times and your laughter too, we gonna celebrate your party with you.” 

“Dust in the Wind” — Kansas. A song dear to her heart, after losing her sister. She believed that we are all part of this Earth and we are what make it so great. Just like the dust in the wind, we are all scattered about to make our mark in this world while we are blessed with life. 

Jannisse definitely made her mark upon this earth and to each and everyone she knew and loved. We are all blessed to have you as one of the most beautiful guardian Angels to watch over us. We love you, Jannisse, so very much! Thank you for all your love, laughter, advice, guidance, and all those special moments that you gave us all. 

For now, it’s only goodnight, we will see you in our dreams and we will all be together again somewhere in time. 

Love you, “Margie.” Love your family and friends. 

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In accordance with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Orders - The Molnar Funeral Homes is following and observing the 25 person cap on funeral attendance at one time. We are also practicing social distancing and masks are required for every person entering the building. Thank you for helping us keep everyone safe. 

The services will be live streamed.  The family encourages anyone who wishes to participate to please do so.  Please click the following link to be directed to the live stream services: https://youtu.be/fxcgVSIgdaU