Colette M. Jenkins

Colette Mae Jenkins, age 90, of Rochester, formerly of Delavan, passed away on January 7, 2020 in Rochester.

Funeral services will be held Sunday, January 12, at 1:00PM at Hope United Methodist Church, Blue Earth, with visitation beginning at noon, one hour prior to the service. Burial will be in Rice Lake Cemetery, rural Delavan.

Colette (McDermott) Jenkins was born May 8, 1929, at her family’s farm near Armstrong, Iowa. She was the daughter of William and Gladys (Altizer) McDermott and was raised on a farm near Delavan. Colette graduated from Delavan Public School in 1947. She married Arnold Jenkins in Delavan on Aug. 15, 1948, in a double wedding ceremony with her twin sister, Colleen and Gordon Grupe. After their honeymoon, they moved to the Jenkins farm southwest of Delavan. Together they farmed and raised their children. They were married 56 years at the time of Arnold’s death in 2005. They began raising and breeding Arabian horses in 1969, and for the next 30 years traveled the country attending and participating in Arabian horse shows. They especially enjoyed spending time in Arizona every January and February. After Arnold’s death, Colette enjoyed playing cards every week and meeting twice a year with members of her 1947 graduation class. She loved music and sporting events and spent many nights and weekends at concerts and athletic events for her children and grandchildren.

Colette is survived by her daughters, Candis (Roger) Carr, Constance Ross, and Peggy Surratt, and her son, Greg (Annette) Jenkins; grandchildren, Paul (Karla) Carr, Lisa (Mark) Portner, Angela (Monte) Imm, Colan Surratt, Kendall Surratt, Meredith Jenkins, Chris Jenkins; eleven great grandchildren; sister-in-law Vivian McDermott, and brother-in-law Norman Jenkins.

She was preceded in death by her parents, husband Arnold, infant son Gary, infant daughter Patricia, twin sister Colleen and Gordon Grupe; sister Delores and Roland Walker, brothers Keith and George McDermott.