Jeanne Byers was born on February 14, 1937 in Indianapolis, Indiana.  She was a Valentine’s Day baby.  Her father, Robert Orange Gould, was a grocer who owned his own grocery store in Greencastle, Indiana.  Her mother, Mary Ethel McCullough, was a nurse at Putnam Hospital in Greencastle. Both of her parents were kind and loved music.  They worked hard for their family and through the Great Depression. 

Jeanne grew up in Greencastle, Indiana with her older sister Patricia.  The two sisters were only two years apart and very close. They remained best friends their entire lives. 

As a child, Jeanne was fortunate to be a part of a very large and warm extended family.  She had many cousins on both sides of her family.  Church was an important part of her young life.  She was involved in church activities at Gobin Memorial United Methodist and also St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Greencastle.  She loved to play dress up, play with dolls, and to dance. 

Jeanne’s love of dance began as a child and grew as she did.  She studied ballet and modern dance in high school and college and helped to choreograph. She also sang with the high school choir and was active in the theater.

Jeanne attended Greencastle High School and graduated in 1955.  She then attended the College of Wooster in Ohio and earned a degree in Medieval History in 1959.  She was a charter member of the Greencastle chapter of the N.A.A.C.P., and she helped to integrate several local establishments in the 1960s. 

In 1969, she and her family moved to South Paris, Maine. She worked as a kindergarten teacher in Norway and Otisfield and a first grade teacher in Oxford and Norway for many years.  She loved teaching children how to read. She was the last teacher to teach in the old red one-room schoolhouse on Norway Lake.

In the late 1970s, Jeanne met James A. Byers, also a teacher in the district. They married on June 18, 1983 at Christ Episcopal Church in Norway, Maine. The couple spent their honeymoon at the Plimouth Plantation in Cape Cod. 

Jeanne and Jim settled into their first house at 74 Pine Street in South Paris, Maine.  The two-story Victorian was over 100 years old and had a cast iron cooking stove and an extensive garden with over 100 peonies. 

Jeanne and Jim were wonderful and generous parents.  Jim loved Jeanne’s two children as if they were his own.   She and Jim traveled often to Portland and Boston for ballet, theatre, and opera performances The couple also visited England, China, Greece, and Turkey as well as many places in the United States. Their greatest adventure was a trip to China in 1998 to help her daughter adopt their granddaughter, Elspeth.  They gardened, and enjoyed Jeanne’s children and eventually their grandchildren together. They loved their black cats, and they had several cats with double paws.

Jeanne was an active member of Trinity Lutheran Church in South Paris, and then Christ Episcopal Church, Norway, where she sang in the choir and served as a vestry member. She was a long-time member of the Candlelight Choraliers, and she also enjoyed singing and performing in school-community musicals.

Jeanne was an early riser who had to have her coffee each and every morning.  She was an avid gardener and had more than 100 peony bushes in her garden. She collected rocks from all the states she had visited for her garden, which she tended until the age of 77. She loved to read about history, theology, and politics.  She was an especially fine cook, known for her fried chicken, potato salad, and homemade gooseberry pie. She loved art and poetry, and she was a fine poet herself.

Jeanne’s greatest joys in life were her children, grandchildren and family.  She often traveled with her grandchildren and visited them.  She passed her love of dance to her granddaughter, Elspeth, and many books to her grandchildren, nieces and nephews.  Jeanne was loving, funny, giving, feisty, strong willed and smart.  She was both kind and generous and will be remembered for her ability to love unconditionally. 

Jeanne Byers passed away at the age of 79 on May 20, 2016.  She was the beloved wife of James A. Byers.  She was the proud mother of Susanna Burger Muzzin (Michael) of Farmington Hills, and David Burger of South Paris, Maine.  She was the loving Nai Nai to Elspeth Muzzin; and loving Grandma to Autumn and Joshua Burger.  She also loved her four great grandchildren. She was the beloved aunt of Mary Sutton Korkor, Bob Sutton (Kelly), Martha Sutton, and Chris Sutton (Anya). She was preceded in death by her parents and her sister, the Rev. Patricia Gould Sutton.

Memorial Visitation Friday 6-8pm at McCabe Funeral Home, 31950 W. 12 Mile Rd., Farmington Hills. Instate 10am until time of Memorial Service 11am at Hope Lutheran Church, 39200 W. 12 Mile Rd., Farmington Hills. Memorial contributions may be made to Christ Episcopal Church, Norway, Maine. 

Jeanne’s life will be celebrated Friday, May 27, 2016, with a memorial visitation beginning at 6pm and concluding at 8pm at McCabe Funeral Home, 31950 W. 12 Mile Rd., Farmington Hills. Her memorial service will be held Saturday, May 28, 2016, with an instate time of 10am and a service time of 11am at Hope Lutheran Church in Farmington Hills, Michigan. Memorial contributions may be made to Christ Episcopal Church, in Norway, Maine or to Trinity Lutheran Church in South Paris, Maine.