Dorothy Jean McKechnie Jarrell

My mom, Dorothy Jean McKechnie Jarrell, died at her home on December 15, 2014 after suffering a stroke the week before. I wasn't expecting for her to leave so soon. Though 86 years old, she had been living alone in the four-bedroom house I grew up in, and she liked it that way. She was sharp and funny and determined up until the end. In those last days, she let me know that she was ready to go; she was at peace with her life and the transition to come. In fact, she kept telling me to go home to my family —showing that generous heart even in her final moments.

Jean was born on November 8, 1928, in New Castle, Indiana, the fifth child of seven McKechnie children. She grew up moving between farm and town, eventually graduating from Newcastle High School in 1946. She worked for about a year at New Castle Products, later known as Modernfold, and saved enough money ($300) to move to California with her pal, Maxine Gordon. In Los Angeles, she continued secretarial work in the banking industry until she was accepted into the stewardess corps at Western Airlines. She flew for ten years and loved every minute of it. She flew "puddle-jumps" to Yuma and San Francisco and internationally to Mexico City and Panama City. The friendships she made at Western Airlines continued until her death.

In 1959, she married my dad, Gordon Jarrell, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Three years later my twin brother James and I were born. She always said that the years of raising us kids were her best. I guess that's because she loved family more than anything. In the last few years, she was never more happy than when her nieces and nephews would visit. As the last member of her generation of the McKechnie clan, Jean became a second mom to her siblings' children. She adored that role.

She was preceded in death by her siblings Jim, John, Art, Nina, Grace and Bill, her husband, Gordon and her son James. She leaves behind her daughter Janet, her daughter-in-law Carol, her grandsons Tony, Elijah and Luke, and more than a dozen nieces, nephews, grand-nieces, and grand-nephews.

We love and miss her so very much.

A celebration of Dorothy Jean Jarrell's life will be held on February 14, 2015. Please contact Jan Jarrell at janjarrell@me.com or 619-640-5462 for more information.