Jean was born in the small town of Lott, Texas on October 20, 1923. She went to elementary and high school there then to Southwest Texas State Teacher's College (now known as Texas State University, San Marcos). After marrying Ray Whiteside in 1946 and moving to Southern California, she finished her Bachelor of Arts degree at Cal State Long Beach and began teaching Business Education at Gardena High School in the LA Unified District. She, Ray and daughter Linda enjoyed camping and RVing for many years on weekends and summer vacations. She retired in 1983 and enjoyed many trips with Ray and her Airstream friends to places all over the United States and even took their motorhome down the Baja Peninsula to Cabo San Lucas. She was a member of several different Airstream Units and served as president of the Hemet Unit as well as other positions. After Ray's death in 1999 (they were married 52 years), she "downsized" from her 36 ft Airstream motorhome to a 30-footer so she could continue traveling on her own with the group. She was able to travel with the group and hook up her car to the motorhome by herself, until she was nearly 88.
As a teacher and after retirement, she enjoyed being around young people and encouraged them to do good things in life. She was a supporter of the Fallbrook Rainbow Girls, and participated in Fallbrook Eastern Star and the California Retired Teachers Association, doing the newsletters for these organizations for several years. She supported the military and loved animals (particularly dogs). Jean is survived by daughter Linda and son-in-law Chuck Maddox and grandchildren Geoffrey and Shannon Maddox. She was a wonderful wife, mother and grandmother. We will miss her energy and upbeat personality.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in her memory to the San Diego Fisher House. 100% of the money goes directly to support their cause. The website to donate to their San Diego location is:
www.donate.fisherhouse.org/sandiego
Their mailing address is:
Fisher House Foundation
111 Rockville Pike # 420
Rockville, MD 20850
The website provides a place to designate who it is in memory of.
As an alternative, she donated yearly to the San Diego Humane Society. Their website is:
https://secure2.convio.net/sdhss/site/Donation2