Jean was born in Biddeford on May 27, 1925, to Herbert “Bert” and Evelyn “Eva” Thompson, the youngest of their three children. After graduating magna cum laude from the University of Maine, she pursued graduate studies at Merrill Palmer Institute for early childhood education and Wheaton College.
In 1950, Jean married Jewett “Chick” Neiley Jr. of Endicott, New York. Raising three children, Roger, Andrea and Christopher, the family enjoyed sharing time between homes in Fortunes Rocks, Endicott and Silver Lake, Pennsylvania. As her children embarked on their own careers, she returned to teaching as director of the Endwell Nursery School in Endwell, New York. After retirement in 1981, she and Chick spent winters in Jupiter, Florida and summers at Silver Lake, where she was instrumental in the startup of the E. L. Rose Conservancy.
Jean’s husband Chick preceded her in death in 2010 and her youngest son, Christopher, died in 2012.
She is survived by: son, Roger Neiley, of Laguna Beach, California; Andrea Neiley Hagan, of Acworth, New Hampshire; and grandchildren, Nicholas Neiley, Katrina Schellens, and Eva Hagan. Jean lived to see the birth of her first greatgrandchild, Christopher Fowler Neiley, last month.
A memorial gathering will be conducted next spring, with family and close friends contacted directly. Memorial donations in Jean’s name may be made to the E. L. Rose Conservancy (www.elrose.org). Dennett, Craig & Pate Funeral and Cremation – Saco has been entrusted with the arrangements.
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