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Jean Huntington McKusick Soeder, age 91 years 6 months of Port Hueneme, California passed away in Tool, Texas at the home of her son Jon H. Soeder, on August 31, 2017.
She was born on February 18, 1926 in Pasadena, California, to Herbert and Myfanwy (Betty) McKusick.
Jean was raised in Globe, Arizona, but spent her adult life with her husband, Alfred and three children, Sandra, Teri, and Jon, primarily in California, and for several years in Coral Gables, Florida, and Charlotte, North Carolina.
Jean was first and foremost a kind and loving caregiver for her family, having cut short a brilliant and promising medical career.
After her children left home, she worked as a nurse, later restudying her earlier medical training, and by her own self-study earned her RN license. Jean knitted close to 100 blankets and crochet doilies for friends and family. She never missed sending cards for birthdays and anniversaries, and loved to collect recipes and recipe books.
She was a member of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Monrovia, California where she served on Altar Guild and, with her husband, made 600 palm leaf crosses for Palm Sunday. She is survived by her son Jon and his wife Debbie of Tool, Texas, and her daughter Teri of Tokyo, Japan. Teri’s daughters are Kunimi Andrea, who teaches in China with her husband Fernando, and Mayuka Thais, an artist/songwriter, who lives in California, as does her son-in-law, Douglas Field. She was preceded in death by her daughter, Sandra, who had two children, Julia Fikse (Craig) and David Field (Nicole) who now live in California with five great grand children: Megan and Malory Fikse, and Luke, Claire, and Austin Field.
Local family includes nephew Brian McKusick (Abigail), niece Kathleen Condit (Geof), great-nephew Thierry Condit, and sister-in-law Charmion McKusick (Robert).
A committal was held on September 10, 2017 at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Globe, Ariz.
Assisting the family; Lamont Mortuary of Globe.
