Obituary

Jeffery Edward Jenkins

July 20, 1958 - November 11, 2020

Jeffery Edward Jenkins died on Wednesday, November 11, 2020, at age sixty-two. He was born on July 20, 1958, fourth of the five children of Bryant Edward Jenkins and Mrs. Margie Louise Yates Jenkins.

Mr. Jenkins grew up on the Jenkins Farm and Nursery in eastern Tangipahoa Parish and upon graduating from Bowling Green High School, resisted the frequently prevailing urge to leave behind all things rural and agrarian, and instead he found contentment and an outlet for his energies and talents upon the site and soil of his birth. He stayed on the farm.

His entire life was spent there, on a ridge overlooking the Little Tchefuncte valley, where he shared the chores and toil, the dawning of each day and its sunset, all the things that shape the farmer’s journey.

“The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,

The lowing herd winds slowly o’er the lea,

The plowman homeward plods his weary way…”

Jeffery was a latter-day disciple of the way of life that inspired the above couplet from English poet Thomas Gray. It was Jeff's reality, his existence.

Mr. Jenkins is survived by his sister, Margie Ann Jenkins; his brother, Mark Yates Jenkins; an aunt, Mrs. Doris Yates Magee; and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins; and was preceded in death by his parents, and by his brothers, Frederick Bryant Jenkins and Timothy Allen Jenkins.

In lieu of flowers or other tangible amenities, the family asks that friends consider making a comparable donation to the Louisiana Nursery and Landscape Foundation, Margie Jenkins Scholarship Fund, which may be mailed to LNFSR, P. O. Box 1447, Mandeville LA 70470, and identified as being in memory of Jeffrey Jenkins.

A memorial service will be conducted on Sunday, November 15, 2020, by Rev. Clinton Mitchell on the grounds of the Jenkins’ home beneath the venerable live oak tree which has shaded this home site since soon after the homesteading of the surrounding lands. Visitation is invited beginning at 1:30 pm and continuing until the commencement of the service at 2:30 pm. Burial will follow in the adjoining Martin Van Buren Hughes cemetery.

Pall bearers honoring Mr. Jenkins will be Jeff Carrier, Mark Jenkins, Russell Kent, Ronnie Mixon, Justin Morel, and Johnny Venable.