Obit: Jean Burns

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Jean Burns, 89, of Muscatine died Wednesday, Sept. 18 at Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House in Bettendorf. Family and friends are invited to a celebration of life on Sept. 26 from 3 to 6 p.m. at Ardon Creek Vineyard and Winery, 2391 Independence Avenue, Letts, Iowa 52754.

Jean Isabell Smith, the daughter of Grant and Ada (McGill) Smith, was born Feb. 23, 1930. She was born and raised on Penn Avenue in Atalissa and attended grade school at Penn Avenue School. She graduated from Muscatine High School in 1948 and during that summer, attended Cedar Falls Teacher’s College where she received her teaching certificate.

In the fall of 1948, she began her teaching career at Penn Avenue School. Jean wanted to have a glamorous career like a flight attendant but her mother insisted she get her teaching certificate and get a practical job, and so this started her adventure in teaching.

Jean met her husband, Donald J. Burns, at a dance in Atalissa and the couple was married on Feb. 18, 1950 and to this union, three sons were born. After her marriage, she raised her boys and helped Donald on the farm, as well as substitute teaching and furthering her teaching education.

Jean will long be remembered for her teaching career, which took her to several country schools in Muscatine County and eventually to Wilton Elementary School. She began her work in Wilton as a Title One Reading teacher in 1967 and worked there until her retirement in 1992. After retiring, she continued to tutor students for another 10 years. The power of her influence upon others is immeasurable but her influence was never powerful, simply kind and subtle. For this, she will long be remembered.

She was tenacious in her work as a teacher and this tenacity followed her in every aspect of her life. She enjoyed researching family history and was especially proud of her efforts to help author Jeffrey Copeland write a history of her aunt Pearl McGill, entitled “Shell Games,” published in 2012.

Jean was also a “Rock Hound,” always scanning the ground for another great specimen. She became interested in lapidary (the shaping and cutting of stones) and was very skilled at cutting opals. Family and friends will recall the beautiful jewelry she made from stones she collected that she often wore.

She also enjoyed watching the birds from her dining room window, reading, writing and traveling.

All this said, Jean would prefer to simply be remembered as a devoted wife, mother, grandmother and teacher.

Those left to cherish her memory are her husband of 69 years, Donald Burns; three sons, Thomas P. Burns, Timothy J. Burns and his wife, Patsy and James A. Burns, all of Muscatine. She is further survived by her five grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, several nieces, nephews, extended family and many friends. Also many “adopted” children loved by “mom/ Grandma Jean.”

She was preceded in death by her parents and her siblings, Zella, Charles and Kurt.

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