Jeannine Eugénie Hélène Bligny Pappas passed peacefully from this earthly life on 07 September 2018, at the age of 93.

She was born in 1925 in the seaside town of Dinard, France, and was raised in family homes in Brittany, Burgundy, and Paris. Her home in Burgundy was adjacent to the Chateau de Sully, Saône-et-Loire, ancestral home of Patrice MacMahon, Duke of Magenta, and President of the French Third Republic.  As a very young child, she was invited to the Chateau for a children's party but found herself too timid to enter the great hall.  The then-current Duke of Magenta noticed her and motioned her inside with the adage, "Il n'y a que ton culot qui te sauvera." (Only your nerve [courage] will save you.)  Young Jeannine forever adhered to this advice which saw her through countless trials, adventures, and accomplishments.

She attended l'École des Beaux-Arts in Rennes, and the Sorbonne in Paris, where she studied under the painter, Tsuguharu Foujita.  She earned a diploma in fine art, specializing in sculpture and architecture. Her passion for art continued throughout her life and she earned numerous competitive awards for her paintings, drawings, and sculpture.  She also worked in stained glass.

As a teen, she joined the Resistance during WWII and survived imprisonment in a Nazi prison in occupied France.  In recent years, local schools and civic organizations sought her out as a speaker on her wartime experiences.

In 1946, she emigrated to the United States with her mother, Jeanne Bligny.  She met U.S. Army Air Corps Lt Walter Pappas in New Jersey, and they married in 1947.  She was a proud military spouse, and mother to four children. Together, this Air Force family traveled the world throughout Walter's 20-year career, including tours of duty on the Aleutian Island of Adak, Morocco, and Athens, Greece. Jeannine proudly became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1954, a few years before the family settled in northern Virginia. Her marriage to Walter Pappas ended in divorce but they remained friends and devoted themselves to their four children, six grandchildren, and twin great-grandsons.

Jeannine's pride in the U.S. military led her to embark on her own career in federal service.  She initially worked for the Library of Congress, the IRS, and then as a Congressional administrative staffer in the offices of Senator Daniel Moynihan and Senator Claude Pepper. She found her true professional home working for the Department of Defense as a Protocol Officer in the Office of the Secretary of the Navy at the Pentagon. She went on to work in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps and retired in 1994 after nearly 20 years of federal service.

Perhaps Jeannine's greatest passion was her love of animals and her volunteer work for animal welfare. Over the course of her lifetime, she lived with many rescued animal companions – mostly dogs and a few cats and birds – all meticulously cared for. She worked with numerous animal welfare organizations throughout northern Virginia, and advocated for abused animals in court. When welfare organizations weren't working fast enough for her liking, she was not afraid to act independently, braving threats of violence and even gunfire in order to save an animal in distress.

One of the greatest of Jeannine's many adventures was a trip she took to Russia just prior to collapse of the Soviet Union. There, she befriended a stray Corgi-mix dog named Cosmos, who was begging for food in the streets of Moscow. Somehow, as only Jeannine could, she managed to bring Cosmos home with her, riding in the seat next to hers in the plane's cabin.

Jeannine's concern and respect for the downtrodden did not stop with animals.  She was known in the greater Leesburg area for helping the homeless – caring for them and bringing them food and supplies. She was generous well beyond her means.

Jeannine loved to socialize and had encounters with some of the world's most celebrated people. She once danced with Van Johnson.  She met Mike Todd, Elizabeth Taylor's husband, who told her, "You look like my wife!" She counted members of the Kennedy family, and world-renowned opera star, Denyce Graves, as true friends.

If you knew Jeannine, you knew a force to be reckoned with. She was never afraid to speak her mind, regardless of the consequences. She was friends with the Leesburg and Loudoun police force and EMS crews – who knew her both for her erratic driving and the cookies she would bring them at Christmas.

God, in His wisdom, sees first the hearts of His children.  As such, Jeannine is surely home with Him in Heaven, enjoying eternal peace and the joy of her family and friends who went before.

Jeannine is survived by her four children whom she loved beyond measure: Jacqueline Sandra Pappas; Alexandra Michelle Pappas; Michael Albert Pappas and his wife Victoria Arellano-Pappas; and Mari Lisa Pappas and her husband, John Otte.

Her faithful caregiver, Ms. Fanta Kabba, ensured Jeannine's comfort in her final years with the love and devotion of a true daughter.

Jeannine is also survived by six beloved grandchildren: Michael Gearheart; Nelly Jeanne Davis; Zella Davis; Walter Pappas Davis; Garin Pappas; and Angela Pappas; and cherished great-grandsons, William and Jacob Gearheart.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Animal Welfare Society of West Virginia, (304) 725-0589, http://www.awsjc.org/ . To donate: http://www.awsjc.org/support.html

Family will receive friends on Thursday, September 20, 2018 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm at Colonial Funeral Home of Leesburg, 201 Edwards Ferry Rd., NE, Leesburg, VA  20176.  A Mass will be held on Friday, September 21, 2018  at 10:00 am at Saint John the Apostle Catholic Church, Leesburg, VA  20176.  Interment will follow at Union Cemetery.