Jean Taylor, age 85, a resident of Wheaton, IL, for 58 years, died Monday, June 4, 2012, at Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, IL. She was born in Chicago, IL, on September 3, 1926, to James Pearson and Margaret Schanz.

Jean's father emigrated from the Shetland Islands in his teens, and her mother's parents had come from Germany, and throughout her life Jean always felt strong ties to her Shetland and German heritage. Growing up in Chicago, Oak Park and Winfield, Jean had fond memories of working in an uncle's Martha Weathered dress shop in the Drake Hotel in Chicago, and of often visiting an Oak Park bakery owned by two aunts. She also liked to recount her "brush with fame" when she was invited to go swimming at a friend's house in Winfield and some of the other invited children were part of the east coast Kennedy family. Jean went to Winfield Grade School (a one-room schoolhouse at the time) and Pleasant Hill Community School in the 1930s, and West Chicago High School in the early 1940s. She then attended Wheaton College for several years. After raising five children, Jean held long-time jobs at Central DuPage Hospital in Central Sterilizing and at Tyndale House Publishers in the Accounting department.

A devout Christian throughout her life, Jean was a member of the Plymouth Brethren before attending Wheaton Bible Church faithfully for many years with her children. Low key and unassuming, Jean possessed the unique ability to befriend and talk to nearly anyone, and her children would laugh that they could not go anywhere without running into someone who knew or had met their mother. Jean was much loved by her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and in-laws. In her later years, Jean never turned down a chance to babysit her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and never missed their events, such as ball games and graduations.

Jean was preceded in death by her parents and by a son, Kenneth James.

She is survived by her children, Ron Taylor of Wheaton, Jean Ann (Steve) Parker of Wheaton, Tom (Jeanie) Taylor of Wheaton, Beth (Bill Bonhoff) Taylor of Batavia, IL, and Tim (Nancy) Taylor of St. Charles, IL; brother, James (Milly) Pearson, of Monona, WI; her close cousin Gay (David) Anderson of Indian Head Park, IL; and eleven grandchildren, three great-grandchildren (a fourth on the way), and numerous other much-loved cousins, nephews and nieces.

A visitation will be held on Saturday, June 9, from 10:00 a.m. until the time of a funeral service to be held at 11:00 a.m. at Hultgren Funeral Home, 304 N. Main St., in Wheaton, IL. Interment will follow at Forest Hill Cemetery, in Glen Ellyn, IL.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Expeditions Unlimited (www.expeditionsunlimited.com), a Christian wilderness adventures ministry run by a previous neighbor.