"My name is Jeanne".  Melva Jeanne Thompson preferred her middle name.
She was born in Mitchell, South Dakota on Sept. 17, 1945, at a time when her
mother, Lucile,  was visiting family of both parents in the Norwegian
community of Woonsocket, South Dakota.  At one month, mom and first daughter
returned to California.  Jeanne was later joined by sister Sharon and brother
Ron to round out the family.  Father Lester bought a home in East Oakland
after the war, and eventually moved them into a fixer-upper in the Lakeshore
area where she grew to maturity attending Crocker-Highlands and graduating
from Oakland High.  
	As a young adult she took a number of clerical jobs, eventually
becoming a whiz on plug-in switchboards.  In 1969 she took a receptionist/
switchboard job at the CPA firm of Lindquist, von Husen, and Joyce in 
San Francisco where a geeky, skinny young accountant named Mike Barkley
worked.  They became friends, found they enjoyed many of the same things,
enjoyed each other's sense of humor and ethics, and were married on June 6,
1970.  
	Starting in 1972 Jeanne and Mike began accumulating apartment 
buildings, with Mike putting together the deals and Jeanne handling the
day to day operations.  They found it worked best for them to live in the
buildings they operated and made it a going business rather than just an
investment.  Eventually they traded from East Oakland to Manteca, where the
now-multimillion dollar business is centered.
	Over the years Jeanne became a skilled and innovative cook, and
an accomplished seamstress, making clothes as good or better than
store-bought for family and many friends.  Her fine embroideries still
grace the walls of friends and family.  Jeanne's unique cheesecake is
sought after, and Mike has put her recipe on his web site for the world
to enjoy.
	Throughout her entire adult life Jeanne was plagued with peculiar
physical symptoms which were eventually explained by a diagnosis of 
multiple sclerosis on June 4, 1998 by which time she was in a wheelchair.
MS took its toll on her health throughout her life but she never gave up,
maintaining a fine sense of humor and perseverance even as MS rendered her
bedridden.  Discovery of large print books allowed her to continue her
voracious reading, devouring several novels per week.  A lifelong lover
of old movies, this past 6 months she rediscovered the TCM channel and
spent many hours enjoying Bette Davis classics among others.
	A stunning diagnosis of advanced ovarian cancer on May 3, 2006 
was followed by successful surgery May 26, leaving her and family and
friends filled with hope.  Over the next 26 days a succession of hospital
errors took their toll and she died suddenly June 21 and was removed from
life support June 24 after all hope was gone.
	With seldom a harsh word for anyone, generous to a fault, very
bright, with a splendid sense of humor, and always a friend of cats and dogs,
Jeanne was truly "beloved by all".