Jean Marie Healey

Jean S. Healey, 93, 1920–2014, was born in Kaye County, Oklahoma, only child of Ruth (Lewis) and Lloyd Dinsmoor Stevenson, who moved to Little Rock, in 1933. She was a 1937 graduate of Little Rock High School and a 1941 graduate of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She was married twice: first to Robert Lane Gordon, Ph.D., and later to John Albert Healey, who preceded her in death. She is survived by her children: Robert Lloyd Gordon of Springfield, Arkansas; Mary Maurine Healey; Rebecca Ruth McMath and husband Bruce; and John Joseph Healey II and wife Betty (Fleming), all of Little Rock. She is also survived by seven grandchildren: Katherine (Gordon) and husband Mark Barcham; and Heather Gordon and husband Brent Cutting, all of New Zealand; Robert Bruce McMath and wife Shannon (Beaumont); and John Albert Healey II and wife Lisa (Orzechowski) of Little Rock; Phillip Bruce McMath and wife Elizabeth (Fleck) of Edinburgh, Scotland; CPT Sidney Healey McMath, U.S. Army, of Alexandria, Virginia; Carlton Gardner of Little Rock, as well as four great-grandchildren: James Bruce McMath II and Margaret Ruth McMath of Edinburgh, Scotland; and Anabelle Grace McMath and Sophie Elizabeth McMath of Little Rock. Jean evidenced a strong sense of civic responsibility, practically making a career of volunteering at St. Vincent Infirmary, and even more so with the Red Cross, where she was particularly involved with services to military families. With the fall of South Vietnam, she moved to Fort Smith in order to help with the refugees being housed and processed at Ft. Chaffee. Prior to that, she had been involved with Cuban refugees displaced after the Cuban revolution, taking in the children of a displaced family. Not surprising for such a person, Jean endeavored to live her life in deference to the interest of others; a habit so ingrained, that it could become a fault, particularly when she was behind the wheel. Family history and genealogy was her life long passion. She was the family editor and her hand was so polished that she was frequently called upon to scribe important invitations, notes and envelopes. But beyond these particular skills, she was a fountain of wisdom especially for her grandchildren. She will be missed. At her request, a private family funeral prayer service was held at Roselawn Cemetery, Little Rock, on Thursday, March 27, 2014, led by Msgr. Francis I. Malone. Memorials may be made to Cathedral of St. Andrew, the American Red Cross or to your favorite charity. To sign the online guestbook, go to www.griffinleggetthealeyroth.com.