Jeanette Lea Rayles

Published 9:46 am Monday, March 14, 2022

Jeanette Lea Rayles (nee Bledsoe), formerly of Glasgow, Kentucky, passed away in her home in Wilsonville, Oregon on November 5, 2021, following a valiant fight with metastatic pancreatic cancer. She was 70 years old.

Jeanette was raised in English, Indiana, and graduated valedictorian of English High School in 1969. She married her high school sweetheart, Ralph Rayles, on January 24th, 1970. After spending three years in college, Jeanette received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the Indiana University School of Business in 1972. She worked as an accountant with the Bremner Biscuit Company in Louisville, Kentucky before moving to Glasgow, Kentucky in 1973 with her husband and their infant daughter. She spent many years in Glasgow managing her husband’s dental practice and lovingly raising a family of four children.

Following her divorce in 1992, Jeanette pursued her dream of becoming a financial advisor, working with Edward Jones in Bowling Green, Kentucky for seventeen years before becoming an Independent Financial Advisor with Raymond James in 2008. Her strong work ethic, high standards, and sincere dedication to her clients’ needs gained the trust of many, and she became a lifelong friend and confidant to many of her clients. In 2017 she moved to Oregon to be closer to her two youngest granddaughters.

Jeanette was generous, ambitious, fun-loving, smart, and hard-working; she cared very much about paying good fortune forward. As a strong supporter of women and women business owners, Jeanette contributed her time to the National Association of Women Business Owners, to Women Back to Work programs, and to the Family Preservation Project in Oregon. Additionally, she was an active member of the Rotary Clubs of Glasgow, Bowling Green, and Wilsonville, and she volunteered her time to many worthy organizations such as Habitat for Humanity.

Jeanette was an avid supporter of the arts, particularly regional theatre in Kentucky, donating regularly to the Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center (SKyPAC). She also contributed frequently to Horse Cave Theatre, and for several seasons, she provided free accommodation in her home to travelling actors and actresses while they fulfilled summer contracts with the theatre.

In addition, Jeanette’s love of travel and the outdoors is legendary. During her lifetime, she shared her love of travel with many of her closest friends and family, creating indelible memories along the way. From cycling through France, to visits to Africa, to rafting down the River of No Return, Jeanette embraced all that life had to offer with gusto and appreciation.

Jeanette is survived by four children, Whitney, Jason, James, and Shannon; three granddaughters, Hazel, Olive, and Opal; her sister, Tami; her niece, Brooke; and her nephew, Eli. She was preceded in death by her parents James and Rosemary (nee Bennett) Bledsoe.

Donations may be made in her memory to dressforsuccess.org, thefamilypreservationproject.com (specifically for Between the Lines, a program that records the voices of incarcerated mothers while they read books for their children), Bald Head Island Conservancy (specifically for the Sea Turtle Protection Program), Habitat for Humanity, Orchestra Kentucky, or SKyPAC.

Please join the family for a celebration of Jeanette’s life at Tayvin Gardens in Smiths Grove, Kentucky on March 26th. A reception will begin at 2pm, with tributes at 4pm. All who knew Jeanette or know her family are welcome to attend.