Jeanne Louise Salmon
Jeanne Louise Salmon died peacefully at her home in Ajijic, accompanied by her husband and her two pets, Kiki and Luna, on January 27, at the age of 77.
Born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, Jeanne was the second of four children of Jessie and Willard “Dutch” Salmon. She received her RN degree from Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Boston in 1967 and proceeded to get her BS and BSN from the University of the State of New York in 1979. She became a Certified Nurse Midwife from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in 1979. She received her master’s in public health from the University of North Carolina in 1991.
Jeanne practiced midwifery in birth centers and hospitals in Massachusetts, Louisiana, Florida and North Carolina. She was strongly of the mindset that pregnancy should be treated as a beautiful life event and not as an illness. As such, she chose to specialize in birth center care as both a midwife and a clinical director. She worked as the maternal expert in the State Health Office in Florida in the Department of Maternal/Child Health. There she was a change agent in maternal care and was instrumental in writing the policies and protocols for HIV care for women of childbearing age and in the bonding of mothers and babies in Florida. She spent her adulthood as a children’s and women’s advocate. She tried very hard to practice her Christian faith by caring for those in need, regardless of their circumstances.
After moving to Ajijic, she helped design son Steve’s restaurant, Elegante in Ajijic, and also worked there as a hostess. She was proud of his accomplishments as a professional chef and always took the opportunity to enjoy his cooking.
Jeanne had three children: Scott Bieniek, Tanya (Bieniek) Messina and Steve Bieniek. In addition, she had three children of her heart: Katrin Thiel and Donnie and Dale McKellip. Her main joy in life was being a mother.
She is survived by her husband Eric Callis; her sons and daughter; and seven grandchildren, John Bieniek, Kayli Bieniek, Rebekah Bieniek, Jake Messina, Dylan Messina, Charlie Messina and Sean Messina.
Jeanne was a strong, smart, beautiful and kind person who will be missed by all who knew and loved her. She was a strong Christian and a member of a home church, Our Safe Harbor Church, and the Lake Chapala Baptist Church in Ajijic. A celebration of life will be held at Lake Chapala Baptist Church on Thursday, April 25, at 11 a.m.
If you would like to give a remembrance for Jeanne, please donate to the children’s shelters, La Ola Casa Hogar (laolacasahogar.org/donate) or Mama Cleo’s (mamacleosboys.org/es).