Leslie Jeannette Wells

Leslie Jeanette Burch Wells of Roswell, GA went home to be with her husband, Charles Edward Wells, Sr., on June 3, 2020. Known to family and friends as “Jenny,” she was born on May 24, 1925 to William and Virginia Burchof Flippin, GA. Jenny was the youngest of 7 children, with 3 brothers and 3 sisters. After moving to Atlanta with her family in 1926, Jenny attended Joel Chandler Harris Elementary School, Joe Brown Junior High and Atlanta Girls High with her siblings. Jenny had a servant’s heart and knew she wanted to become a registered nurse. After high school Jenny enrolled and graduated from the Georgia Baptist School of Nursing. This was during World War II, which saw a severe shortage of trained nurses, threatening the United States' ability to meet medical demands, both domestically and for deployed service members. In response, Congress on July 1, 1943 established the Cadet Nurse Corps, an integrated, uniformed service of the Public Health Administration. Jenny, along with her lifelong friend Ruth Harvey, joined the World War II Cadet Nurse Corps on September 15, 1943 and served until the program ended on December 31, 1948.

Jenny continued her nursing career working in hospitals, making house calls in rural Georgia and working with private practice physicians. During this time, she met Ed whom she married on March 24, 1956. Through their 62 years of marriage, they had 2 children, Karen and Charles.

During the mid-1960s, Jenny went to work in the Emergency Room at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta and quickly showed her desire to provide a high level of care to all patients. With this trait, along with her character, Piedmont administrators promoted her to Head Nurse of the Emergency Room. While serving in this position, Jenny oversaw numerous emergency room expansions, spearheaded Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations certifications, as well as, other emergency room achievements. Due to her expertise in emergency room nursing, she was asked to speak at several emergency room nursing conferences in the Southeast. One of her proudest moments is when she was able to attain Level III Trauma Certification for Piedmont Hospital. After leaving the emergency room, Jenny led the Outpatient Minor Surgery Center at Piedmont until her retirement in May of 1994. Jenny also served as the “neighborhood nurse” taking care of skinned knees, cuts and bruises. Jenny’s legacy of nursing lives on in the countless number of young people she mentored and trained throughout her nursing career.

After retirement, Jenny continued nursing by taking care of family and friends. She sat by many besides during family and friend’s final hours and could be called upon for advice. She spent many nights sleeping next to loved ones who were in the hospital. Her love of caring also extended to the many pets she had during her lifetime. Jenny also loved arts and crafts, cake decorating and passing down family recipes to her children. 

Jenny was preceded in death by her husband Ed. Jenny is survived by daughter, Karen Wells Burt, son Charles Edward Wells, Jr.; daughter-in-law Laura Mann Wells; sister-in law, Juanita Thompson Wells; grandchildren, Jeremy Burt, Tina Burt, and Amanda Wells; great grandchildren, Zachery Long, Harley Long, and Jacob Clayton along with many devoted nieces and nephews.

Jenny’s committal will be held at the Georgia National Cemetery, Canton, GA on June 12, 2020. A gathering of family and friends will be held at Charles’ home in Cumming, GA on June 13, 2020. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Eagle Ranch, P. O. Box 7200, Chestnut Mountain, GA 30502, (770) 967-8500 in Jenny’s name. Byrd & Flannigan Crematory and Funeral Home, Lawrenceville, GA handled the burial arrangements. Send on-line condolences to https://www.byrdandflanigan.com/

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