Jeannette Nielsen Worley was born July 14, 1921 in Riverside, California, where her mother, Josphine Nielsen, an artist and home-maker, and father, Alvin Nielsen, a raisin grape farmer in the Central Valley, had come to stay with Josphine's parents for the birth.

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She spent her first few years on the raisin farm in Selma, then moved to Riverside with her parents when Josephine's mother and father were mortally injured by an automobile driver when crossing a street.

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At the Victorian house on Orange Street she was surrounded by paintings and watercolors, and was encouraged by her mother to draw and paint. She was a good student and graduated at the top of her class from Poly High, then went on to study art at Riverside City College, where Josephine joined her as a student. Their teachers included Rex Brandt and David Scott.

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Jeannette completed her education at UC Berkeley, where she studied sculpture under Jacques Schnier and Raymond Puccinelli, graduating in 1943 with a BA in Art. 

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Most of her work as an adult was done in sculpture workshops, including those conducted by John Svenson and Robert Ortlieb.

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Jeannette was an attentive mother and devoted much of her energies to her three sons, who she encouraged to follow their interests. 

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After the death of Don in June 2000, she moved to a sunny apartment on Bainbridge Island, Washington, where she had a view to the south of the harbor and surrounding hillside. 

Jeannette died on January 28, 2016 at the home of her son Stevan on the island.