"My Grandmother" Helen Doumas

Helen Doumas, my grandmother, was a very special person in my life.  She was a self-taught, gracious homemaker AND a business-woman.  She taught me many things about life, and some of the finer things that can still be found and practiced by genteel Southerners.   The facts below were lifted from her obituary, which was written by her children.

The daughter of George Welford Jennings and Mary DeClifford Spindle Jennings, she was born Nov. 29, 1911, in Screamersville, now known as Chancellor, in Spotsylvania County.   She was the second eldest of ten children - there were 5 girls, and 5 boys.  Helen was the last survivor of the Jennings family.  The widow of Constantinos A. Doumas, she was baptized "Helen" in the Greek Orthodox Church.

Helen was a member of many organizations devoted to conservation and preservation including The Kenmore Association and the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities.

She and her husband, Constantinos, were owners and operators of the Mayflower Restaurant, a prominent downtown landmark during the 1940s and 1950s.

She spent nearly 20 years as a part-time tour-guide at Kenmore Mansion. She had been employed at the Fredericksburg Visitor Center and was the night clerk at the Princess Anne Hotel.

Her long-term hobby interests were crocheting and knitting needlework, and she was an active member of The Kenmore Stitchery. In her later years, she became an avid herb gardener, cultivating dozens of plants in her colonial herb garden.

People were enthralled by her beautifully-tended herb and flower garden.   Her garden and yard were her pride & joy.  The local Fredericksburg newspaper, The Free-Lance Star, actually featured my grandmother's garden in an article, along with a beautiful color picture of her in the garden.  It was quite well known, along with the many herbs.

A little project of mine in mid-May 2005 was to contact as many of the Jennings/Doumas family members as I could via email.  I requested that they submit stories, anecdotes, and memories of Helen Doumas / Jenelle Jennings.  I have been collecting the "memories" [click the link to read them] in a computer file to publish to this page, so that everyone may read them, friend and family of the Doumas and Jennings families.  This was compiled for the surviving children of my grandmother - Christine and her brothers, Art and Bill, and they are welcome to send me a funny incident or touching memory as well for publication for all to see.

Anyone at anytime may submit via email or fax or snail mail to me to have published to this file.  Please continue to check or refresh this "memories" link - as the file will be continually updated with stories. I hope to receive a good many more.  Email and request a fax#, mailing address, more information, or to send a submission via email .       Top