Jessie Leone McElveen Kujawa

Mrs. Jessie Leone McElveen Kujawa, 93, of Pooler, Georgia, passed away on Thursday, May 14, 2026 at RAB Memory Care & Personal Care Home in Pooler. Jessie was born at Telfair Women’s Hospital in Savannah, Georgia and was raised in Pooler, Georgia. She graduated from Commercial High School and Draughon's Business College. Jessie worked for Dearing Chevrolet and Straughn Shipping in her early professional years. She and Raymond Kujawa married and welcomed three children within four years. As her children reached school age, she became a Paraprofessional in the Savannah Chatham County Public School System and was an active member of the Parent Teacher Association(PTA). Jessie loved teaching academically challenged children and encouraging them in their educational growth. Cooking and playing the piano were two of her well known talents although she will be remembered for her love of coffee. In addition to her professional work, she cared for her elderly extended family in their later years both in Georgia and Texas. Jessie will be missed by many friends and her children, Stephen Kujawa (Kathy), Joseph Kujawa (Debra), and Susan Kendryna (Gregg); her grandchildren, Gary Smith, Jr. (Christie), Jennlauren Schroder (Derrick), Joshua Kendryna (Fiancée Kaylie), and David Gates, as well as four great-grandchildren, Naomi and Thomas Smith, Griffin and Murphy Thomas. She was preceded in death by her husband, Raymond Paul Kujawa; parents, Jesse and Dovie McElveen. She was a member of the Pooler First Baptist Church. Jessie will be memorialized on Thursday, May 21, 2026 with visitation from 5-6 pm followed by a Farewell Service in the chapel of the funeral home beginning at 6 p.m. Thomas C. Strickland & Sons Funeral Homes – WEST CHATHAM CHAPEL – 901 West Highway 80 – Pooler, Georgia (912) 748-2444To honor Jessie’s fight over dementia, the family welcomes memorial donations to RAB Memory Care & Personal Care Home 121 Aquinnah Drive Pooler, GA 31322. The QR code will be available in the Farewell Service program.