Virginia Faye "Jenny" Ortner

     Virginia “Jenny” Ortner, 80 of Conway, Arkansas went to be with Jesus December 30th, 2024. She was born March 14th, 1944, in West Memphis, Arkansas to Lat and Agnus Meek.

     Jenny lived an interesting and adventurous life. She was always on the go and loved to travel. Her favorite thing to do while traveling was visiting lighthouses. She spent many vacations, finding and touring lighthouses all over the country. If there was sand involved, all the better. Even though two of her sons, Robert and Earl, lived in different states, she would not hesitate to get in her car and drive herself there, well into her late 70s. She loved spending time with all her children and grandchildren.

     Jenny was one of the most caring people and made friends everywhere she went. She loved people and served them most of her life. She worked at Integrity for 30 years, caring for individuals with disabilities. In addition, she took care of people all around her in any way she could. She was the most loyal mother, grandmother, and friend a person could ask for.

     As much as she loved her family and friends, there was no greater love in her life than Jesus Christ. He was the center of everything she did and her motivation to live life to the fullest while loving and caring for others. He was her driving force to make a difference in this world in any way she could. Anyone around her knew this about her and felt the benefits of this from her in their own lives.

     Jenny was preceded by her husband, Mark Ortner, who passed away in 1990, two brothers, Lat Meek and Bob Meek, and her sister, Carol Shaner.

     Jenny is survived by her three children, Robert (Jodi) Ortner of Jackson, MS, Earl (Donna) Ortner of Nashville, TN and Michael (Melisa) Ortner of Conway, AR. Additionally, she has 7 grandchildren, Taylor Richard (Anthony), Kaleb (Savannah) Ortner, Anessa Ortner, Josh Ortner, Max Ortner, Zander Ortner and Jasper Ortner.

     A visitation will be held at 2:00pm, on Saturday, January 18th at Smith Family Funeral Home in Conway (1751 Dave Ward Dr.) with a Celebration Service of her Life following at 3:00. Jenny’s wishes were that we have a happy celebration rather than a sad funeral. She didn’t want any sad songs and wanted everyone to laugh a lot. We invite all her friends and family to join us in a joyful celebration of a woman that made so many laugh and helped so many along the way.