Obituary of Jeanne Cortese Bottrill

February 22, 2011 Jeanne Cortese Bottrill died at home Tuesday February 22nd surrounded by her loving family. She joins her parents, her brother and her daughter who went before her. Jeanne was born in Syracuse on August 15, 1931. She was the daughter of John and Anna Zimmerman and the sister of Jack Zimmerman. Jeanne was raised in the Strathmore area of Syracuse and graduated from Central High School in 1950. Jeanne took great pride in raising her family in her historic Valley home. The house, built in 1813 by Caleb Alexander was brought to life during her 52 years there. In 1976 Jeanne and her adoring husband C. Marvin Bottrill were married in Hawaii. Marvin will miss his “Beanie” greatly. Jeanne and Marv traveled extensively and shared a passion for entertaining friends and especially enjoyed dancing to live music at various venues. Jeanne was the proud mother of Anne Sacks-Berg (David), Michele Murray Hall (Deceased), Thomas Cortese, Michael Cortese (Michelle), David Cortese (Anne Marie), Catherine Penizotto (Leon) and Teresa Seeley (Daniel) and step-sons, Mark Bottrill and Miles Bottrill. Jeanne was a loving grandmother to 21 grandchildren and 9 great grandchildren. She was known as the Cookie Grandmother, taking great pleasure in baking cookies for the children. Her closest friend Jessie King was a caring and loving “sister” to her and was one of an army of loyal friends Jeanne had. As a teenager Jeanne enjoyed working with her father at his restaurant, Zimmerman’s, on Jefferson St. She founded Jeanne Cortese Interiors in 1960 and remained passionate about her career as an Interior decorator until her death. She loved helping people express themselves through color, art, and design to bring beauty to their surroundings. Jeanne enjoyed her volunteer work at Upstate Medical Center. In honor of her service and in lieu of flowers, please send donations to Golisano Children’s Hospital at 750 East Adams St., Syracuse NY 13210. Family will be receiving visitors from 3:00 - 5:30pm with a brief tribute to follow at 5:30, on Thursday February 24th at Hollis Funeral Home 1105 W. Genesee St. Syracuse.