Jesslyn Joan (Skeen) Etgen passed away peacefully on Nov. 26, 2021, in Greenville, R.I., at the age of 91.
Prior to moving to Rhode Island in 2017, Jesslyn made her home in the Blacksburg area for nearly fifty years. She was born to Maxine and Bruce Skeen in Logan County, Ohio, on Aug. 9, 1930, and as she neared the end of nursing school, she married William (Bill) Etgen in 1950 in Bellefontaine, Ohio.
Jesslyn’s shared life with Bill took them to Wisconsin, back to Ohio, then to Rhode Island, and finally to Blacksburg in 1968. She gave birth to six children along the way, and when the last of them were in late high school, she completed her formal education and became a licensed practical nurse. She worked in the nursery at Radford Hospital for several years and then volunteered her skills and energy to the Community Health Center of the New River Valley before she finally retired.
Jesslyn was preceded in death by daughter Carolyn Etgen in 1988 and by her husband Bill in 1992. To honor them, Jesslyn endowed a physical therapy facility at the Kroontje Health Care Center in Warm Hearth Village in Blacksburg. She also established a scholarship in the Department of Dairy Science at Virginia Tech University. Jesslyn was a voracious reader and traveler. She shared her passion for visiting far-flung corners of the United States and for exploring the Skeen family roots in Scotland with her sister Carol Ann Skeen.
She leaves behind five adult children: Michael Etgen in Clyde, N.C., Anne Etgen in San Francisco; Kathleen Lowyns in Bronson, Fla.; David Etgen in Williston, Fla.; and Mary Etgen in St. David, Ariz. She is also survived by a sister, Carol Ann Skeen in Bellefontaine, Ohio, and a brother Richard (Dick) Skeen in Jackson Center, Ohio, as well as numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.
The family requests that in lieu of flowers, those who wish to acknowledge Jesslyn’s life and legacy consider making a donation in her name to the Community Health Center of the New River Valley, 215 Roanoke St, Christiansburg, VA 24073 (Home – Community Health Center of NRV (chcnrv.org)).
The family will hold a private service in the summer of 2022 at the Plum Cemetery in Lewistown, Ohio, where she will be interred with Bill, Carolyn, Bruce, and Maxine.