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Bammerlin) Graff
Jeanne (Bammerlin) Graff passed away peacefully at The Cottages in Spokane, WA on January 17, 2025. With the given name of Emma Jean Iva, she was born March 18, 1927 to Edward and Iva (Sherman) Bammerlin on the family ranch near Burton, NE.
She went to a one-room country school until high school, when she moved in with her grandmother in Springview, NE during school weeks. After graduating high school in 1944, she attended business school for a short time until she got a federal job working for the Agricultural Adjustment Administration in Ainsworth, NE. There she met Art (Red) Graff, who worked for the Bureau of Reclamation, and they were married in 1951 in Ainsworth. With the Bureau they moved to O’Neill, NE, back to Ainsworth and then on to Canyon Ferry, Dillon and Conrad, MT. In 1968, the family moved to Coulee Dam, WA. Jeanne lived in the family home in Coulee Dam 50 years before moving to Spokane, WA in 2018.
Jeanne went back to work in 1971, working in the Grand Coulee Dam area schools until retiring in 1982. When Art was detailed to the Glen Canyon spillway repair project in 1983, they moved temporarily to Page, AZ. After Art retired in 1985, they made their first of many snowbird trips to Arizona before moving to Virginia where Art worked for a private engineering company for a few months. After that they enjoyed traveling back to Nebraska to see family, traveling to see their children and grandchildren, and spending winters in California and Arizona visiting family and friends there. Jeanne and Art made many annual trips to Nebraska to attend Johnstown and Keya Paha school reunions and visit family.
Jeanne was a member of Coulee Dam Community Church and P.E.O. She had many friends and always enjoyed “The Ladies of the Pool” and going to the senior center. She was also an avid bowler, beginning with Austin’s Alley Kats in Ainsworth, NE.
Jeanne was preceded in death by her husband Art Graff in 2003, her parents, and three brothers.
She is survived by her sister, Lila Heerten of Springview, NE; sisterin- law, Glee Swanson of Valentine, NE; son, Blaine (Jana) Graff of Camas, WA; daughters, Janie (Fred) Manzer of Sequim, WA and Jerene (Steve) Rogers of Spokane, WA; six grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren; as well as many beloved family members and friends in Nebraska.
In honor of Jeanne’s life, memorial donations may be made to Shriners Children’s at lovetotherescue.org