Gennifer Lou Ford

On August 16th, 2023, our beloved mother, grandmother, wife, sister, aunt and friend, Gennifer Lou Ford passed away at the age of 81 years while dreaming of the color orange. She resided in Sarasota, Florida and Salida, Colorado. Gennifer, also known as Jan, was the eldest of three children born on January 28th, 1942, to Warren and Minnie Charlotte Jenks in Monmouth, Illinois. Years later, she moved to San Bernardino, California and in 1960 graduated from Pacific High School. There she met the love of her life, Larry John Ford, while on a double date although she wasn’t paired with him. She winked at Larry in the rear-view mirror from the back seat and their love story was set in motion. On June 20th, 1961, the couple eloped in Las Vegas. Gennifer’s life was blended with the color orange. It’s unclear how orange became so interwoven into her personality and character. But when you think of Gennifer you think of orange….bold and beautiful. She embraced orange as an essential part of her life. She wore orange clothing and jewelry, painted the walls of her house orange and her furniture was bathed in orange fabrics. And when she painted flowers and sunsets it was with the most perfect shades of orange. If something wasn’t orange in her world, it was pink or turquoise, lesser colors for sure but still acceptable in her eyes. It seemed one day when Gennifer was in her 30s, she just started seeing the world in hues of color like she never saw them before…so she created a rainbow world around her. Gennifer started painting at an early age in oils, and then watercolors. Then while living in Japan, she awoke to flower arranging, wood carving, silk screen painting and doll making. She was an artist at heart. She came to love and paint nature. While living in Colorado, she enjoyed ATV trips over the Continental Divide with family to see the Aspen changing colors. She drew inspiration from the changing seasons and her favorite season was fall. Her home could always be found decorated with autumn leaves, golden acorns and of course, orange pumpkins. She knew how to decorate a Christmas tree and give a great gift. She enjoyed shopping for that perfect gift and occasionally made that look like an art form as well. Some of our best family memories are of making Christmas cookies, singing holiday songs, drinking spiked hot cider and eating her famous sock-it-to-me cake on Christmas morning. She made every Christmas magical. Gennifer was one of the best versions of herself under pressure or in a crisis. We can’t say why this is so, we just know this is so. Maybe she learned this when her Mom passed away and she had to help raise her 2 younger brothers or when her brother died in Vietnam. When Gennifer faced breast cancer, she declared like a warrior she would beat it and she was able to harness a positive energy during that period of her life that made it so. Gennifer raised her two daughters around the United States and overseas. She was a IBM wife and created 18 homes around the globe. These homes were filled with good food, conversation, love, happiness and orange furniture. She had a German temper and in her own words was a woman who would on occasion say, “I’m so mad I could spit nails”. And when she said it, by God you knew she could, and you stood back for a moment to give her some room to do so. We believe the greatest time in her life was in her 60’s when she and Larry explored the world. They cruised to colorful places like Alaska, the Mediterranean, St. Petersburg and Norway. This inspired them to purchase a boat which they named Silver Whisper, and Gennifer charted a course for adventures all over Florida. The two of them seemed to fall in love even more deeply during this time. She was often visited by family and went on many adventures with them all over Colorado and Florida. She will be lovingly remembered by her husband of 62 years, Larry Ford; children: Carol Eagan (Jim) and Diane Toole (Sean); granddaughters, Jennifer Murray (Rob), Jillian Eagan, Emma Toole and Rachel Toole; brother, Bill (Antonia) Jenks, sister Gina Jenks, several loved nieces and nephew; as well as her dog Nugget. She was predeceased by her brother, Richard Jenks; and her parents, Minnie Charlotte Jenks, Warren Jenks and Mary Lou Jenks; her grandmother Clara Wells; her great aunt, Louise Vance. A Celebration of Life for Gennifer will be held at on Saturday, October 21st, 2023 (Time and Location TBD). In lieu of flowers Memorial Donations may be made in Gennifer’s name to the Alzheimers’s Association on https://act.alz.org The family wishes to send a special thank you to her caregiving team for their care and compassion while she resided at The Sheridan at Lakewood Ranch.

Tributes

Gennifer Lou Ford

January 28, 1942 - August 16, 2023