Mary Jean Jean Peabody

Jean Peabody (also known as Mary Jean), passed away in Idaho Falls, Idaho on January 26, 2014, following a brief yet terminal illness. Jean was born June 17th, 1928, in San Mateo CA and true to her adventurous spirit she lived in many unique cities including Honolulu HI, San Francisco, Santa Barbara and San Diego CA, Seattle WA, Houston TX, Daytona Beach FL, and Sequim WA. During her career she worked at Stanford University, and while living in San Diego, Jean had the pleasure of working with Dr. Jonas Salk at the Salk Institute. She also worked as a counselor at a school for under-achievers in Eloy AZ, and in the banking industry in Houston for several years. Following her retirement 23 years ago, Jean bought a motorhome and traveled the U.S. before settling down in Daytona Beach, then later moved to Sequim to be closer to family. Jean was a very active person involved in blood drives and volunteering with the Red Cross, distance swimming, and rowing a shell at the Halifax Rowing Club in her 14 year home of Daytona Beach. She loved to walk long distances ever exploring her surroundings when her years prevented her from jogging any longer. Until October of 2013 she was a resident of Sequim, where she volunteered for the Chamber of Commerce and the Dungeoness Spit, and many of the local lavender farms during the Lavender Festival there, as well as supporting the Annual Dungeoness Crab Festival in Port Angeles. Jean was a staunch advocate for her environment, hoping through her fierce recycling efforts to leave as small a foot behind as humanly possible. She loved living near the ocean and was particularly proud of her Peabody heritage in the Black Ball Line and the Puget Sound Navigation Company, their ferries and great steamships of the past.
Jean was predeceased by her mother Josephine Mennella Peabody, her father Norman Penfield Peabody, her brother Duane Peabody and her sister Lilly Peabody Kaneshiro. She is survived by her daughter Susan Macaulay Bateman and son-in-law Kent Bateman of Idaho Falls, ID, a granddaughter and five great grandchildren, as well as many cousins in the Seattle and surrounding areas, and a newly found group of cousins that were recently reunited with Jean and Susan in Staten Island NY.
A very heartfelt thank you to Judy O'Gilvie for her vigilant care of Jean in Sequim until family could arrive, and special thanks to the staff and nurses at Good Samaritan Rehabilitation Center and to Aspen Home Health & Hospice. Both provided extraordinary care in Jean's final weeks in Idaho Falls. In keeping with Jeans wishes, no formal services will be held. A family and friends celebration of life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers the family requests that a donation in Jean's name be made to the Ocean Conservancy, the Nature Conservancy, the American Red Cross, which were some of her favorite charities, or the American Cancer Society to fund more research to find a cure for the cancer that prematurely took her life.