WILHELMENIA ROSS-JETTOO

December 14, 1963 - March 28, 2013

Wilhelmenia Ross-Jettoo, 49, of Kankakee, died Thursday, March 28, 2013 at Riverside Medical Center in Kankakee. Visitation will be Friday, April 5, 2013 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.at Lax Mortuary in Kankakee where funeral services will be held on Saturday, April 6, 2013 at 11 a.m. Pastor Joseph Huggins will officiate. Burial will be in Mound Grove Gardens of Memory. Wilhelmenia Ross-Jettoo, affectionately known as Menia, was born to the late Frank Louis Ross and the late Leatha Annette "Tootsie" Coleman at Harlem Hospital in New York City, NY on December 14, 1963. Wilhelmenia graduated from Brandeis High School in New York, NY in 1981. Wilhelmenia’s lived some of her early childhood years in Kankakee, IL, where she attended Kennedy School. She was an award winning swimmer at the local YMCA at the age of nine; was made a lifeguard, and won awards as a gymnast, and acrobat artist. Menia worked in the healthcare industry in New York, NY from 1981 through 2003, working with Luke’s Hospital, Jewish Home Hospital, St. Barnabas Hospital, Allen Health Care, the Association for the Advancement of the Blind and Retarded, as Direct Care Counselor, and also with Catholic Charities as a Medical Coordinator. She was also accredited by Cornell University in 2004 through their Brooklyn, NY program for completing their Family Development Course. Menia married Sham Jettoo on September 3, 2000, and they resided in Brooklyn, NY before relocating to Kankakee, IL in 2007. Soon after, Menia began work at the Jerome Combs Detention Center. She graduated with an Associates of Arts in Business Administration in 2009, and again with a Bachelor's of Business Administration in 2011, both from Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, IL. Menia loved to travel with her husband and family.br> She is survived by her husband, Sham Jettoo of Kankakee, IL; her son, Vincent LaGary Jettoo-Coleman of New York, NY; two daughters, Danielle Jetto and Michelle Jettoo, both of New York, NY; her father, Johnny L. Coleman, Sr. of Kankakee, IL; three sisters, Leatha Louise â€Å"Peggy†Ross Coleman of Bronx, NY, Francine Merritt Ross of Atlanta, GA and Jahnette Lucinda Coleman of Springfield, IL; six brothers, Vincent Louis Ross of Bronx, NY, Frank Louis Ross, Jr., of Bronx, NY, Michael Eric Ross of Montgomery, AL, Charles Martinez-Ross of Bronx, NY, Johnny Bentson of Teaneck, NY and Johnny Lee Coleman Jr. of Kankakee, IL; one grandson, Trevin Samuel Coleman of Bronx, NY, and a host of aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews other relatives and friends. She was a foster mom for many years and will be missed by Angel, Elijah and Andre Noodles and a host of other children that have been assisted by the Jettoo family.br> She was preceded in death by one sister, Rosetta Ross, and two brothers, Michael Louis Ross and Eric Louis Ross.