Jeanne Anderson Eggleston

May 29, 1948 - November 5, 2025

Edina, MN - Jeanne Anderson Eggleston, 77, passed away with her husband, sister, son and daughter by her side on Wednesday, November 5, 2025 at Little Hospice in Edina, Minnesota. Jeanne suffered from congestive heart failure caused by medications taken for her treatment of breast cancer twenty years ago. Despite the challenges of her condition, she lived a very active and healthy lifestyle these past two decades, with a rapid decline in the past few months.

Jeanne was born May 29, 1948 in Minneapolis to Carol and George Eggleston. She was the eldest of three girls and always relished her role as big sister to Patricia and Bonnie. Her early years were spent in Edina and her adolescence in Tucson, Arizona. After finishing high school and starting college in Arizona, she embraced the spirit of the late sixties, traveling and courting adventure. In 1970, she met her life’s companion, Rhett, in Memphis, Tennessee. Together they traveled in their Volkswagon bus around the United States, working and collecting experiences and stories they still loved to share with their children and grandchildren fifty years later. Jeanne married Rhett in 1971 and gave birth to their son, Dylan, followed three years later by their daughter, Katie. When the children were young, Jeanne and Rhett continued to travel, living, at times, in a full-size tipi they crafted from Minnesota pine trees as poles, and a canvas cover sewn by Jeanne on her portable Singer sewing machine. Eventually, they settled down and bought a home in Bloomington, but she never lost her spirit of adventure and her commitment to authenticity.

Jeanne completed her bachelor’s degree in English at the University of Minnesota and maintained a passion for literature all her life. She worked jobs that allowed her flexibility when her kids were young, then transitioned to working for the State of Minnesota, first at the Pollution Control Agency, as a grant writer, and then the Department of Health, writing, among other things, food safety rules. She was excellent at her work and made lifelong friendships at these agencies.

Jeanne was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005. Concerned about having limited time, she retired from the state to focus on her health and spend time with her first grandchild, who was born in the deepest throes of her treatment. In her recovery, she seized upon her role as grandma, making regular extended trips to New York to care for her granddaughter, Veronica, and support her daughter, Katie. Words cannot express her engagement as matriarch, and her pleasure at welcoming grandson, Owen, and niece, Samantha, to the family.

Her commitment to care extended beyond the children. She was exceptionally devoted to caring for her parents until their death and oversaw the complex care of her mentally ill sister, Patty, with tremendous compassion until she passed, with Jeanne at her side, in 2023. Her devotion and strength of purpose in caring for her family inspired awe in those around her.

Jeanne was fiercely intelligent and curious to the end. She read and voraciously listened to audiobooks, and there was no one better to recommend what was worth reading, listening to or watching. She loved to travel and longed for more, enjoying visits to Turkey, Scotland, Portugal, Greece, Italy and other destinations in Europe. She also relished trips with her family through the Badlands and Yellowstone, and loved exploring her beloved “old Florida” towns with Rhett. In her retirement, she embraced breadmaking and knitting, both activities that calmed her busy mind. Her holiday rolls are legendary, and her accomplishments as a knitter astonish anyone lucky enough to receive one of her works of art.

Jeanne lived an authentic life that inspired those around her. We are so blessed to have been touched by her love.

She is survived by her husband, Rhett Taber; sister, Bonnie Gross (née Eggleston); children, Dylan Taber and Katie Taber; son-in-law, Mike Frank; grandchildren, Veronica and Owen Frank; niece, Samantha Gross, and countless beloved cousins and friends. Jeanne was predeceased by her parents, Carol (née Anderson) and George Eggleston, and her sister, Patricia Eggleston. A Friends and Family Memorial will be held on Saturday, December 27th from 11-1 in the social room (first floor) of Jeanne and Rhett’s cooperative residence building at 7500 York Avenue, Edina (where Jeanne and Rhett have lived since 2022). In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to N.C. Little Memorial Hospice, 7019 Lynmar Lane, Edina, MN, 55435. The not-for-profit Little Hospice provided exceptional care, comfort and solace to Jeanne and her family in her final days.