Jeanette Rich (Lansing)

Miss Jeanette Denese Rich was granted her angel wings on Thursday, August 30, 2018. She is the much treasured and prayed for child of Jonathan and Denese Rich of Lansing MI. Jeanette was a 10th grade student at Holt High School, where she especially enjoyed courses in Ceramics and Home Economics, having aspired to become a chef.


Although Jeanette’s time here was short, the impact of her life was immeasurable. To say she was a social butterfly is an understatement, Jeanette never met a stranger. She always had a sincere, and kind word for everyone, and a smile on her face that could lift the moon. She loved attending church and stated her wish to become baptized at the tender age of ten. Last year, at the age of 14, her special wish was fulfilled. Jeanette enjoyed spending time with friends and family, singing and dancing, and had a remarkable talent for DJing music, earning her one of her nicknames, J-Boogie.


Jeanette’s graciousness was overflowing, and she always expressed her appreciation and gratitude, even for the smallest things. A search across the ages could not bring forth a more genuine person. If she asked you how you were doing, she meant it, if you spoke, she listened, if she told you she would pray for you, she did. If any quarrel or disagreement arose between Jeanette and her friends, or young family members, she was always the first to apologize, never-minding who set the dispute in motion or who was perceived to be at fault. At times, this troubled her mother as she worried, as any mother would, over her child being mistreated or taken advantage of. She would go to Jeanette and ask, “why do you always have to be the first to say I’m sorry?” This led to one of the few instances in which Jeanette disobeyed her parents, because even when her mother instructed her not to apologize, Jeanette apologized anyway. This frustrated her mother to no end, until one day she realized, while she was busy preparing and readying Jeanette for this world, Jeanette was preparing for the next one. Those of us fortunate enough to cross her path know that she was one of the sweetest lights this world has ever seen, the very embodiment of Christ’s teachings, and she lived her life for God.


Those left to rejoice in her memory include her loving and unwaveringly devoted parents, Jonathan and Denese Rich, her cherished sisters, Jonay and Naomi Rich, her loving grandparents, Eunice Ray & Neal Prince, and Charlie & Ella Rich, all of Lansing, MI, her sweet and loving great-grandmother, Mrs. Leila Williams of Lansing, and a host of uncles, aunts, cousins, friends and loved ones.