Frances Jean Fortwengler (February 19, 1927 – January 21, 2008) – Jean was born in Louisville, Kentucky to the late Nola and Jessie Fesler. Her father was a coal miner and worked in road construction as a bulldozer operator, and was transferred to many cities, during Jean’s childhood. Her early years helped shape the woman she became; independent, strong, and a person who could quickly engage others. Jean was known for her independence as well as her adaptability and joy of life. Although Jean lived much of her life in an era when most women chose family over careers and didn’t mix the two, she managed to raise three children and have successful careers in nursing and screenprinting.In 1943, at age 16, Jean returned to Louisville and enrolled in Kentucky’s first school of nursing at the John Norton Memorial Infirmary. Later, Jean furthered her medical training at John Hopkins nursing school in Baltimore, Maryland. “Fes”, as she was known by her colleagues at the time. After university, Jean worked as a surgical nurse.
Jean met her husband, Joseph “Joe” A. Fortwengler, in Louisville, Kentucky when he was a student at the University of Louisville on the G.I. Bill. They were married in 1949. Joe worked for Ulano as the Midwest Sales Manager. They moved to Prospect Heights, Illinois from Kentucky because much of Joe’s work was in the Chicago area. Joe explained Jean’s move from nursing to screenprinting, “I was in sales at Ulano, and Jean came to the conventions with me, and she was quickly hired as the convention manager for Ulano. We traveled all over the world.”
Joe and Jean’s daughter Susie is married to George Legh-Page of Houston, Texas who also works for Ulano.
A successful career woman, Jean worked alongside Joe at Ulano. As coordinator of Ulano’s trade show activities for 30 years in North America and in Europe from 1986, until her retirement in 1994 at age 67.
When she wasn’t on the road, Jean served as ‘the voice of Ulano” answering technical questions. Jean was a life-long learner and was one of the most knowledgeable people in the screenprinting technologies. Her vast amount of knowledge was given freely to anyone who asked, no matter how long it took, and anyone who called knew instantly that Jean could help them to resolve their issues.
There are countless stories about Jean helping others. Among them was the time that a customer told Jean that he exposed stencils by holding them over his head close to the ceiling light fixture in his kitchen. Peering over her glasses that rode low on her nose, with her no-nonsense persona, Jean asked, “Don’t your arms get tired?” When Ulano introduced their capillary film, Jean accepted the job of training customers on the proper use of the film and narrowed the key to its successful use with just four oft-repeated words, “The wetter the better.”
Nicknamed “The Energizer Bunny” for her strong work ethic, Jean prided herself on being an independent woman with the ability to work just as hard, if not harder than most men.
For her accomplishments, she received the Industry Training Connection award for Ulano, Midwest in 1990.
In a 1980 article in Screen Printing Magazine, Jean was featured as one of a half dozen women pioneers in the screenprinting industry. In that article, she commented, “My whole life I’ve worked mostly with men and…it is a rare instance when I have a problem with that…. I think if you feel liberated, people will react to you in that way…. The whole secret to it is to think like a man, but act like a lady and work very hard.”
Jean was also ahead of the curve as a working mother at a time when only a small percentage of women were. She had thoughts about this, too: “To work and have children, you have to know how to organize your time and be able to come home and devote some very individual time to them.”
Jean served as a “den mother” to a group of pioneer women who gathered informally at the industry trade show – Woman in Screen Printing (WISP) – providing mutual support to one another. In its day, WISP fostered an important social evolution in the industry.
“She enjoyed nature, she enjoyed bird watching,” said her daughter, Nola Martellotti of Geneva. “She took care of all the pets and the birds at Brighton Gardens.” and that Jean, “credited her maternal grandfather for teaching her to read at an early age, and to value education.”
“She was the greatest,” said her son Joseph “Tim” Fortwengler of Prospect Heights. “She was a nurse, a businesswoman, and she was a good cook. She dealt with people around the world, and she could stand up to anyone.”
Most remember Jean as a take-charge, no-nonsense, hard-working, dedicated woman! Her take-charge attitude continued in her golden years when she moved into Brighton Gardens Retirement Center in St. Charles, Illinois with Joe in 2006. Staff members often said that she and Joe practically ran the place. “She turned every resident into her family,” said Sylvia McGee, assisted living coordinator at Brighton Gardens. “She will definitely be missed.”
While her husband Joe retired at age 62, she kept working until she was 67.
Jean passed away peacefully at Brighton Gardens in St. Charles, Illinois, at the age of 80, on Monday, January 21, 2008, following a courageous battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
Jean was survived by her husband, Joseph; daughter and son-in-law, Susie and George Legh-Page of Houston, TX; daughter Nola Martellotti of Geneva, IL; son Joseph of Prospect Heights, IL; five grandchildren, David Legh-Page of Houston, TX, Daniel Legh-Page of Austin, TX, Melissa Martellotti of Chicago, IL, Christopher Martellotti of San Francisco, CA and Jennifer Martellotti of Geneva, IL. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her infant son David, son-in-law Carlo Martellotti and her beloved dog Yogi.