Obituary

Jean Ann Frankfourth was born on April Fools' day. Payment for her mother's Caesarean section was with 'a calf, a cow, and an acre of potatoes.' At the depth of the Depression, farmers were being resettled from the upper Midwest to the Matanuska Valley near Palmer. Her father signed on to help on the cattle boat for his passage to Alaska. He left the boat in Anchorage, found a new job, and sent for his family to join him.

During World War II they lived on a nearby army post, Fort Richardson. There her father was the fire chief. Jean says that she and her friends had great fun playing in fox holes and bunkers by the railroad track.

Before completing high school, Jean began what can only described as her 'moving around years'! Leaving Alaska Territory, she moved with her family to Oregon, and then moved to Nebraska to be married. Nebraska is where her first child, a son, was born. Lawrence David Short arrived on August 13th, 1949. They returned to Alaska where the first of three daughters arrived, Rhonda Jean Short, November 26, 1950.

The Korean War precipitated another move, this time to Tacoma, where Jean started in the Civil Service at Fort Lewis. Her next home was in Alexandria, Virginia, then on to Fort Rucker in Alabama where her second daughter was born, and her husband attended helicopter school. Vanessa Rae Bandy was born on April 28, 1956. Jean says that her years in the South taught her for the first time the horrors of segregation and the treatment of Black people in that part of our country.

While he flew helicopters in Korea, Jean lived near her parents at Priest Lake, Idaho. With his return and reassignment to Fort Banks, the family moved to Boston for a brief time before their paths diverged. She to Spokane and he 'over the horizon'.

In Spokane Jean worked at the Veterans' Hospital as secretary to the Orthopedic Ward. She married again and was soon off to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where her third daughter was born. Lisa Cecile Stuebing arrived on December 12, 1962. The family moved once more, this time to Falls Church, Virginia, where they actually stayed for nearly seventeen years. Jean describes this time in her life as 'twenty years of PTA and twenty years of teenagers!'

In 1974, Jean had an opportunity to travel with a group to Russia, a trip that still remains vivid in her mind, including a clear mental picture of watching an aged Russian woman sweeping gutters with a twig broom. She also recalls a sense of being constantly watched by police wherever her group went.

Once returned from this trip, Jean started Community College, studying philosophy and accounting, a seemingly 'at odds' combination that actually opened many new worlds to her, including her career with the IRS that lasted from 1978 until retirement. When she came to Seattle in 1978, she continued her education, graduating from City College.

Known as GiGi by her Great Grandchildren: August Canning Cook and Isla Jane Cook of Columbia, Maryland and Ellis Ignatius Havneraas of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Gram by her Granddaughters: Jessica Reynolds Cook and her husband David Cook, Columbia Maryland and Gwendolyn Mae Murray, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Mom by four her children: Lawrence (Larry) David Stuebing and his wife Lois Francis Berlin, Washington DC; Rhonda (Roni) Jean Reynolds and her husband David Michael Reynold, Bemidji, Minnesota; Vanessa (Vess) Rae Engle and her husband James Engle, Arlington, Virginia; Lisa Cecile Stuebing and her husband Adam Boyd Clark, Seattle, Washington.

She loved cicadas, frogs and turtles, including two different turtles named Herman, a long haired dachshund mix named Happiness Peanut Stuebing, a snaggle toothed stray cat named Herbie, a quail hatched by Vess named Robert and a young opossum that did not need to be rescued but nevertheless lived in the basement named Jasper.

An accomplished cook, she was an early adopter of vegetarian and health foods. She enforced a family boycott on grapes for at least 5 years, in support of the National Farm Workers Association led by Cesar Chavez. 'If you are hungry, eat a banana.'

There were many times Jean did not hesitate to bravely take a stand on racism, sexism and human rights including voting rights. A true test of her convictions came in the form of a jury summons in February 2000. She sat on the murder trial for 25-year-old Jami Hagel Sherer who was the mother of a 2-year-old boy. The Sherer Trial made national headlines as it was a 10-year-old cold case. No body and no blood had ever been found. True Crime writer Ann Rule was in the gallery. The story is retold in her book, 'Empty Promises'. The jurors were allowed to keep one page of notes, and on Jean's, she clearly understood that Jami Hagel would have never abandoned her beloved son. The jury convicted for First Degree Murder.

Jean was the kind of Mom that would not hesitate to chase after a black bear, banging a pot with a wooden spoon, in order to keep her children safe. We miss her.

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Jean Ann Frankfourth was born April 1, 1931 in Park Falls, Wisconsin to parents August ‘Gus’ and Mary ‘Gertie’ (Markley) Frankfourth.

She spent the first few years of her life on the family homestead in Kennan, Wisconsin. In 1935, Jean, her parents and her older brother John ‘Jack’ Frankfourth moved to Anchorage, Alaska Territory, where Jean spent her childhood. In high school, she was actively involved in the school newspaper, theatre and school government.

Jean met Ronald Short in high school, and they were married in 1948. Jean had two children with Ron, Lawrence and Rhonda. The young family lived in Nebraska, Alaska and Washington during their time together. The marriage ended in divorce.

Jean taught herself how to type and write shorthand. She did clerical work at Fort Lewis Army Base in Washington, where she met Ray Bandy. The couple married in 1955. Jean had one child with Ray, Vanessa. During their time together, they lived in Alabama, Virginia and Massachusetts. The marriage ended in divorce.

Jean returned to the workforce with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Spokane, Washington. She met Edward ‘Ted’ Stuebing at BLM, and they married in 1961. Jean had one child with Ted, Lisa. During Jean and Ted’s time together, they lived in Wyoming and Virginia. The marriage ended in divorce.
After many years away from formal education, Jean earned her GED in 1975. She went on to earn two associate’s degrees from Northern Virginia Community College in 1978. Graduating Magna and Suma cum Laude.

In 1978, Jean moved to Seattle. The following year, Jean’s first granddaughter Jessica was born, and three years later Jean’s second granddaughter Gwendolyn was born. Jean delighted in seeing her granddaughters grow up and she spent a great deal of time with both of them during their childhoods.
Jean earned a bachelor’s degree in Accounting & Business from City University of Seattle in 1982. She went on to have a successful career as an auditor for the IRS, and she retired in 1994.

Jean sold her house in Seattle and moved down the street to the Hearthstone in 2001. At the ‘Stone, she cultivated many friendships and she knew all the staff by name. Jean’s brother Jack and sister-in-law Jo moved to the Hearthstone several years later, and they were able to share many meals and fond memories. She served as the president of the Hearthstone Resident’s Association for a term and remained an active community member. Jean lived at Honor Care Adult Family Home in Lake Forest Park, WA for the last several months of her life.

Jean (also known as Mom, Gram and GiGi) will be remembered as an intelligent, beautiful, elegant, resourceful, fiercely independent woman.

Jean loved and valued each member of her family, and she was deeply loved in return. She is survived by her four children: son Lawrence Stuebing and wife, Lois Berlin; daughter Rhonda Reynolds and husband Michael Reynolds; daughter Vanessa Engle and husband James Engle; daughter
Lisa Stuebing and husband, Adam Clark; granddaughter Jessica Cook and husband David Cook, great grand-children August and Isla Cook; granddaughter Gwendolyn Murray and her son, great-grandchild Ellis Havneraas, and Ellis’s father, Michael Havneraas. She is also survived by her beloved brother Jack, and his wife Jo, and her nieces Dee Frankfourth and Vicky Moyle.

At the conclusion of her autobiography, Jean wrote, “Always remember you have choices. Try to make decisions that are for your own good. You are very special people and I hope you always treat yourselves that way.”

Jean passed away peacefully on February 17, 2020. Her ashes will be placed in the Columbarium Wall in the Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery.