Obituary of Jeannette Blanche Khayat Donahue

Jeannette Blanche Khayat Donahue, 69 years old, passed away on February 22, 2017 peacefully with her family by her side. She was born in Jerusalem on August 25, 1947 to the Rev. Michael & Helena Khayat. Michael, Helena, Jeannette and her sister Miranda immigrated to the United States in 1951 when Michael became a pastor of the Christian Catholic Church in Zion, IL. Jeannette was as much a nurturer as she was a hard worker and helped her parents as their family grew with four additional siblings. She graduated from Zion Benton High School in 1965 and shortly thereafter started working at the Chicago Title Company. In 1985, she decided to follow her mother’s footsteps and began a successful career selling real estate that lasted over 20 years. Although Jeannette had a strong business instinct combined with a passion for people, her career always came second to loving her family. Jeannette is survived by her husband of nearly 45 years, Carl, daughters Tanya (Michael) Wagenaar and Tammy Miller, and five grandchildren Natalie, Nicole, Brayden, Drake and Grant. Jeannette is also survived by her stepfather Stanley Finka, her loving siblings Miranda (Brian) Reeder, Christian (Twyla), Mary Bennett, Leonard (Tony) and Mark (Lia) Khayat, as wells as, many nieces, and nephews. A visitation will be held Monday, February 27, 2017 from 4:00 until 7:30 PM at Congdon Funeral Home, 3012 Sheridan Rd., Zion, IL. A funeral service will follow at 7:30 PM. Interment will be private for the family at Ascension Cemetery, Libertyville, IL.