Despina “Diana” Jennings

JENNINGS, Despina “Diana”…

March 5, 1931 – October 29, 2025

Survived by her sons Chris, Ron and her daughter-in-law Megan.

Despina was born in Thessaloniki Greece and was raised by her single parent mother after her father abandoned the family. She was an only child, with no siblings. The family lived through years of Nazi occupation of Greece and then the Greek civil war, but managed to survive together through those perilous times.

In the early 1950’s she met her future husband Ken Jennings, who was travelling on his way back to England from the Middle East after being discharged from the English Army. The two must have hit it off quite well because Despina later followed Ken back to England, where they were married, twice. Once in the Orthodox Church and once in an Anglican ceremony.

Despina worked for a while as a nurse but eventually stopped working to raise her family, as Chris was born in November 1955. Shortly after that, the family decided to emigrate to Canada, and after initially visiting relatives in New York City, they eventually settled in London,
Ontario. Ron was born in January 1959 in London. A few years later, the family generously agreed to provide a home for Despina’s mother Euthymia, who came to live with them until her passing in 1974.

Despina was always a caring mother and devoted wife through all the years of their marriage. After Ken’s passing, she even moved out to Vancouver to be closer to Chris, who had moved to Vancouver back in the mid 1990s. Unfortunately she missed the contact with her Greek
friends back in London, and moved back again after only about 9 months in Vancouver. Despina loved animals, and especially after Ken’s passing, she always had a dog companion with her. Her faith in the Orthodox Church was always strong right up to the end, and almost all her friends in her last years were members of the Church. RIP Mom, you will be missed.

The Funeral Service will be held on Tuesday, November 4, 2025 at 11:00am, at the Holy Transfiguration Antiochian Orthodox Church, 465 Horton Street East, London.

Interment in Woodland Cemetery, London. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Humane Society London & Middlesex would be greatly appreciated. Arrangements entrusted with A. Millard George Funeral Home, 519-433-5184. Online condolences, memories and photographs shared at www.amgfh.com