JEAN YEAGER
07/06/1927 - 03/12/2023
Jean M. Yeager of Westwood, MA and Williamsburg, MI passed away peacefully at home surrounded by family on March 12, 2023.
Born Jean Elizabeth McConkey in Ann Arbor, MI July 6, 1927 to Kathryn Woodward and Wendell Lowell McConkey, Jean grew up in Jackson, MI and spent summers at her family’s cottage at Skegemog Point on Elk Lake, a touchstone for her life.
Her father’s WWII service, training search and rescue “crash boat” crews in Pass Christian, MS, took the family to the Gulf Coast where Jean studied at the McGehee School in New Orleans. She continued her education majoring in Economics and Banking at Radcliffe College and graduated in 1949, one year before her childhood sweetheart Dogan Humphries Arthur graduated from Harvard Business School. There were many visits across the Charles River as he courted her in Cambridge. Jean and Dogan were married July 1, 1950, in Jackson. As newlyweds they lived in St. Louis and New York as his business career developed. They started their family with two children during another stint in Michigan and had two more after settling in Longmeadow, Mass.
Dogan passed away in
1967. After a blind date arranged by mutual friends and a whirlwind courtship, Jean was wed to John Glenn Yeager on July 19, 1971, by the Reverend Roger Smith (Dogan’s dear stepbrother) in Oxford, England. Jean and her children then moved to Houston, where John (also a widower) and Jean’s combined family now numbered eight children.
Jean and John enjoyed wonderful times in Houston, at their home in Kerrville, summers in northern Michigan and traveling around the world. Committed to the arts and cultural institutions, they were supporters of the Houston Grand Opera and shepherded Stages Repertory Theater into prominence in Houston. Jean was an active member of St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Longmeadow and St. Francis Episcopal Church in Houston, the
Rice Design Alliance, the Junior League of both greater Springfield and Houston, and a tireless fundraiser for Radcliffe/Harvard.
Jean was competitive and kept active playing golf and tennis, and enjoying sailing and skiing. Even as a single mother she never missed an opportunity to hit the icy slopes of the venerable Springfield Ski Club. Brilliantly pragmatic, she brooked no dissent and simply insisted that her 4 children learn to love it, wisely predicting that they’d also develop a taste for New England’s legendary “black powder.” Jean was always eager to be on the water and could be found on her sailboat well into her late
80s. Jean lived her final years in New England. While her drive faded with age, she took delight in outputting her grandsons and one of her last wishes was for a day on the golf course.
Jean knew no strangers and had a deep curiosity about people and their worlds. She encouraged her children to think critically and modeled the same rigor in her own.
She had high standards for herself and for anyone she cared about, willing the good of the other. Her radiant smile, quick wit, impeccable taste and flair for creating beautiful surroundings are unforgettable to those who knew her. She embraced life’s twists and turns with consistent enthusiasm. She is greatly missed by all who loved her.
In addition to her first husband Dogan, Jean was predeceased by her second husband John, her brother William McConkey, sons Paul Yeager and Mark Yeager, and grandson Jonathon Yeager. She is survived by her brother Bruce McConkey of Kerrville, TX; 6 children -- Jan Yeager of San Francisco, CA; Alison Arthur (David Brigham), of Northport, MI; Peter (Eva) Yeager, of Tow, TX; Dogan Woodward (Loretta) Arthur, of Lincoln, MA; Susan Arthur-Whitson (Willard Whitson), of Rutherfordton, NC; and James (Ginger) Arthur, of Philadelphia, PA; 8 grandchildren, and 3 great grandchildren.
Her family would like to thank the exceptionally gracious and caring staff of Premier Health Care, Inc. for their unfailing attention and professionalism.
Private family burial in Jackson. In lieu of flowers, donations to Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study www.giving@Radcliffe.Harvard.edu or Old Colony Hospice www.OldColonyHospice.org.