Jennifer Kristina Deaton

Jennifer Kristina Dyer Deaton was the coolest person she knew, and she was happy to tell you that. Anyone who knew her would agree. There is not one person whose life isn’t better for knowing her.

Jenny passed on surrounded by her family on May 27, 2026 at the age of 61. She was brought into this world by Gloria Garvin in Ann Arbor, Michigan on November 16, 1964, adopted by Jack and Joan Dyer, and later raised by her mom, and Jack’s second wife, Portia Dyer. She grew up making friends everywhere she went in Michigan, New Jersey, and Ohio. Jenny graduated from Bowling Green State University with a Bachelor’s in Psychology in 1988. After moving to Atlanta in 1990, she made Georgia her home for over 30 years.

Jenny met the love of her life at Rio Bravo in Roswell, Georgia in 1990. They were Kev and Jen, as she liked to say. For their first date, they talked for hours sitting on the patio of Good ol’ Days as the sun set on a sunny February day and, together, they started our favorite love story; one that has no end. She was proud to say he was her alarm clock, waking her up with a coffee and a “10 more minutes” every morning. They married in Sylvania, Ohio in 1994 and celebrated their 30th anniversary in 2024.

She had a sign in her home that said, “The Deatons, established 1994,” and from that moment on, we were. She was Kevin’s Sweet Baby J and her kids were her Hanny Bananny, Louey Booey, and Nickerdoodles.

Everyone says her family was her world, and we were so lucky to be that. It went both ways; she was ours. She made this world a better, kinder place. Jenny’s smile was bright enough to light up any room, and she was loved by so many. One of her favorite things to say was, “I think they’d be my friend.” And she would’ve been right—there wasn’t one person she met who didn’t become her friend.

She was the mom who fed the neighborhood, hosted everyone’s birthday parties, drove her kids to practice in her Dodge Durango named Dorothy, wrote colorful notes left on the counter, baked cookies before school in the morning so there would be dessert for lunches, and still liked to say Santa was bringing presents at Christmas. Her kids were raised into adults that loved to spend time with her (even if she cheated at cards (she’d say she didn’t but trust us, she did)).

She loved a trip with the people she loved. She trekked across glaciers, threw down hurricanes in New Orleans, and sang her heart out to Bella Ciao on the streets of Rome, but the beaches of Amelia Island and her home on Greenfield Lane were her favorite places to return to. In the last five years, she traveled to Maine, Alaska, Colorado, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, New York, Ohio, Michigan, Massachusetts, Puerto Rico, and Italy. She had more places to see. Her next trips were going to be to Coldwater Lake with her college girls, her annual Mom & Kids trip to Texas, another summer trip to Boston, and her and her husband’s upcoming anniversary trip to Greece.

Jenny gave her time helping people. She worked with children and teens in need of specialized care—first as a Senior Case Worker at the Atlanta Department of Family and Children Services and then as a Teacher/Therapist at Rutland Center. She was a Stay at Home Mom raising their three children, everyone’s second mom, the best Team Parent and Room Mother Forsyth County had ever seen, a Substitute Teacher at Matt Elementary, and most recently the Parent’s Morning Out Lead Teacher and Age-Level Coordinator at Cumming First United Methodist Church, giving “her babies” the best start in life for the past 12 years. She would greet them each morning with a smile and an “I’m so happy you’re here today.” Just this past April, she was chosen for the new Golden Apple Award as the teacher who goes above and beyond in their classroom and shows exemplary character.

Jenny had 61 years on this Earth and she poured into it more love than most people get in a lifetime. She was always a little bit late to everything, except for this one thing, but we know she’s up in Heaven with a glass of wine in her hand, listening to Noah Kahan, and holding tight to all of us down here until we see her again.

She is survived by her husband Kevin, her children Hannah, Lauren, and Nick, and her future daughter-in-law Makenzie. As well as her sister Janet; her brothers Ron, Shawn, and Duncan; her sisters-in-law Laura and Ginger; her brothers-in-law Mark, David, and Steven; her beloved SILs Terry, Row, and Sharon; her Deaton nieces and nephews Will (Kim), Alex, Elizabeth (Scottie), Ashley, Lila (Tyler), Graham (Leah), Morgan, Ashton, and Paige; her Dyer nieces and nephews Lilly, Spencer, Jaycob, Raven, Maddaline, Ashlyn, Bryce, and Grayson; and her Ohio Girlies. She is preceded in death by her father Jack, her mother Portia, her brother Dennis, and her parents-in-law Jerry and Jo.

We invite you to join us in celebrating her life at McDonald & Son Funeral Home in Cumming, Georgia on Sunday, June 7, any time between 2:00–5:00 p.m. We won’t be holding a formal service; rather, we would love if you stopped by during that time to visit with her family and celebrate Jenny’s beautiful life. She loved celebrating her birthday so much, and we want to honor her in the same manner.

Flowers in her memory may be given to McDonald & Son Funeral Home.