On Sunday afternoon, August 17th, 2025, surrounded by family, our dear mother and grandmother took her last breath. She was 94 years old. Jean was a caring and compassionate woman, full of love and spunk, laughter and joy, and she taught us how to feel. Nothing was more important to mom than her family, she was an inexorable force of nature. Born in St Johns, MI Jean was the youngest child of five and the only daughter. Raised during the depression instilled a tremendous well of grit in Jean. No matter what hardship life threw her way she never complained but took it in stride and always found something to be happy about. Jean and Richard (“Dick”) August Nuechterlein (deceased 1980) are survived by their six children; Stephen, Eric (Prisana), Lois, Karl, David (Melanie), and Larry (Marlene). They also opened their hearts and family to their nephew Kurt Martin and their foster daughter, Donna (Curt) Jean. Their house always had room for one more and over the decades many people stayed within the safe and loving walls of their Park Hill home. Lois lived with Jean over sixty years, as her constant companion and caregiver, Lois’ love and devotion made it possible for her to live at home until the end. She always had room at her kitchen table for another kid or big kid (even though she really didn’t) and no one left Jean’s house hungry. As a grandmother, Jean spoiled her grandchildren with cookies, candies, and stories. She was always available to read a book, or play a game. She was great at losing a game of “push rummy” and enjoyed “the booby prize” often. She lived to pick on us and delighted in a gentle joke, yet was just as happy to be the one being teased. Well into her nineties, Jean could name all of her grandchildren, their children and knew their birthdays and hobbies. She is survived by Cassandra (Justin) Wobith, Brandon (Bridget) Nuechterlein, Christopher Nuechterlein, Amber (Bradley) Dunlap, Amanda (Taylor) Poole, Holly (Sean) Mundt, Danielle Nuechterlein, Eric (Sara) Nuechterlein, Cameron Nuechterlein, Corey Nuechterlein, Sydney Nuechterlein and Peyton (Kain) McLeland. She found absolute joy in naming and admiring photos and videos of the great-grandchildren and followed their lives as closely as she could as she aged. As young adults, Jean and Dick enjoyed road-trips and adventure. They went on countless Boy Scout trips, having 5 sons that earned the rank of Eagle Scout, they were very active in the community. Driving across the country and exploring the path or road not taken was always the direction they were heading. Even after Dick passed, the open road called to Jean and she drove from Denver to Michigan annually. As Jean and Lois, and sometimes other family members embarked on this annual pilgrimage they often made side trips, exploring cemeteries as Jean was a real boots on the ground genealogist. She loved following their family tree and seeing how we were all connected, somehow in her time the best records were gravesites. Jean devoured books and read dozens each year, living in the fictional worlds of mystery and romance. She guffawed at old sit-coms like the Beverly Hillbillies, or Ma & Pa Kettle. She loved Jeopardy, Murder She Wrote, and the Colorado Rockies. She hated The Simpsons, but there was magic in growing up without cable and only having one TV, and she loved a room full of family regardless of what was on. Jean didn’t listen to a lot of music, but she enjoyed Christmas Carols immensely. For years she would get her records down from the hall closet and listen to them every year while she prepared a feast. She would speed them up and giggle with the grandkids as their voices were distorted into high-pitched chipmunks. She would scold the kids for “horsing around”or “running through the house”, but deep down she loved it. She lived for her children and was always open for a visit. She was the type of grandma that always kept fresh baked Chocolate Chip Cookies in a jar (thanks to Lois for baking them), and puddings in the fridge. Just *in case* one of her loved ones showed up and wanted something sweet. Family or family friends would walk into her home, walk directly in the kitchen, and immediately seek out today’s goodies. She would be concerned if you didn’t. Our hearts are heavy with her death, but only because she filled them so much throughout our lives. She lived a long and full life, exactly on her terms, she will be deeply missed.