Jeanette Kissel

On Thursday, April 23, 2026, the world lost a bright light as Jeanette McBride Kissel passed from this realm into the next.

Jeanette was born February 10, 1944, in Manhattan, New York City, New York, to Brunhilda Concepcion Garcia Lopez and Joseph Casimir Silkowski. Sadly, Joseph was killed in World War II and never had a chance to meet his baby girl. Jeanette’s mother remarried a wonderful man named Russell Edward McBride, who was happy to take on the role of Jeanette’s father. The young family moved from the city streets of Manhattan to a farm in the Ozark hills of Stone County, Missouri. Although the pace was slower and the chores a little messier (Jeanette helped milk the cows each morning and said she would sometimes get swatted by a filthy cow tail), Jeanette deeply cherished her early childhood with the McBride family in Missouri. She had especially fond memories of her caring Aunt Fern and funny Uncle Jack and sitting on the porch after a hard day’s work, singing folk songs and hymns. Jeanette had a brother named James Byron and a sister named Marietta, but sadly, they both passed away in early infancy and are buried in Smart Cemetery outside Clever, Missouri.

In 1949, Jeanette’s family moved to Illinois, where Jeanette grew up with her two brothers, Russell Edward (Butch) and John Bradley. Jeanette played bass clarinet in the marching band and graduated from Pekin High School in 1962. The day after her high school graduation, Jeanette and her friend Alice were riding around town in Alice's convertible when they stopped at a railroad crossing. While waiting for a very long train to pass, Jeanette and Alice were approached by two young men who were stopped in the car behind them. One of the young men introduced himself as Gerald (Jerry) Edward Kissel and invited Jeanette to grab a milkshake once the very long train passed.

Jeanette and Jerry married on January 14, 1967. They soon moved to Maryland, where they put down roots and built a strong community of friends, to include Joan and Norman Edwards and Cheryl and Jim Arney, who were married the same year and often celebrated their anniversaries with Jerry and Jeanette.

Jeanette worked a series of jobs, meeting many interesting people, in Illinois, Indiana, and Washington, D.C., until she became a mother in 1970. Over the next 25 years, Jeanette raised three amazing children, Grant Edward Kissel (Patty Murphy), Julie Marie Kissel Remo (Keith), and Jill Angelique Kissel Barrett (Brian). She was the proud grandmother of Ayala Madeline, Yael Lauren, and Ilana Rose Kissel; Maxwell Florentino, Gavin Edward, and Gage Apollo Remo; and Declan McCoy, Ronan Patrick, and Aoife Erin Barrett. Her grandchildren were her most precious treasures and in her home above their pictures Jeanette hung a sign that read, “All Because Two People Fell in Love.”

In 1979, Jeanette and Jerry settled into a nice home and neighborhood in Ellicott City, Maryland, where they would live out their years, with one notable exception. From 19821986, the Kissel family lived in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. In Harrogate, they found a new community of friends, mainly Americans who were also working on the base, but also a handful of Brits enamored by Jeanette’s colorful personality and playful spirit. Despite never having much of a sense of direction, Jeanette led a women’s hiking group and each week, they meandered the footpaths through the hills of the English countryside. Fortunately, Jeanette's map skills were sufficient to ensure the hikes always ended at a pub. This group of ladies and their husbands remained friends even after their return back across the pond, forever bonded by their adventures in England.

Once her children were mostly raised, Jeanette went back to school to study psychology and graduated from Towson University in 1994. In 1995, she rejoined the workforce, this time as an Academic Advisor at Howard Community College. In this role, Jeanette touched the lives of countless young people and helped them find their path. Jeanette's ability to sit down with someone to talk, and to truly listen to what they were saying, served her tremendously well in this role.

Jeanette retired in 2011 to join Jerry on a series of world adventures. They trekked across Europe, rode horses on Safari in South Africa, and cruised through the Panama Canal. They sailed across the Pacific Ocean, all the way to New Zealand and Australia, stopping at many South Pacific Islands along the way. They visited China and Russia, not to mention Puerto Rico, Jeanette’s ancestral home. Together, Jeanette and Jerry truly traveled the world.

Jeanette’s life was full of love, joy, and friendship. Jeanette spent her last two weeks in a deep sleep while her body battled a serious blood infection. Each day, she was visited by family and close friends who would shower her with words of love and regale her with favorite stories (many of which were captured in her annual Christmas letters from the last 30 years). Jeanette left this world surrounded by her loving husband of 59 years, her children, and her cousin and goddaughter, Francis Santana.

Jeanette is reunited in heaven with her mother, her two fathers, her brother Butch and her baby brother and sister, as well as many beloved aunts, uncles, and friends.

When you see a butterfly, think of Jeanette — that may just be her spirit stopping by to say hi and to remind you that you are loved.

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