Jean Lytle

Jean E Lytle, nee Schwoch, peacefully passed away with family by her side on February 19, 2025. She enjoyed a long life in Arlington Heights, moving there from Milwaukee, WI with her young family in the early 1960s. While her family was young, she actively supported them through PTA, scouting and church activities, while she and her late husband, Jack, enjoyed singing in the church choir and participating in church social activities.

Outside of family she became active in the Arlington Heights Nurses Club. Through the Club she learned of the beginning of a new junior college, Harper College. When she learned they were starting a nursing program she jumped at the chance to go back to something she loved - teaching future nurses, which she had been doing before the move to Illinois. After a brief interlude of working as a nursing clinical specialist at Northwest Community Hospital and as Associate Director of Nursing at Holy Family Hospital, she returned to teaching, and she never stopped until she retired at the age of 89. Her influence in nursing education extended for decades. She served as Director of Nursing or interim director of programs at Harper, Elmhurst University, Mennonite College, and Ravenswood Hospital’s Henry J Kutsch College of Nursing, and as Executive Director of the Chicago Bilingual Nurse Consortium. She taught at North Park University, Northern Illinois University, and when she retired from teaching, she was on the faculty at Lewis University. She continued her own education, earning her BSN from Marquette University and her MSN and her Ed.D in Adult Continuing Education from Northern Illinois University.

She was honored throughout her career with recognition, including from her alma mater, Columbia School of Nursing Hall of Fame, and the Nursing Innovator Award from University of Illinois College of Nursing. She served on nursing review boards, advised community health committees and nursing programs throughout northern Illinois, and served on the Gottlieb Memorial Hospital Foundation Board. She found joy in volunteering for the Arlington Heights Library and the Children’s Garden at the Chicago Botanic Garden, where she was awarded Volunteer of the Year for Customer Service.

She is survived by her children Betty (Matt) Flamm, Mary Lewis and John (Lorie) Lytle, grandchildren: Christopher, Peter, Joshua, Jennifer, Jessica, Rachel, Sarah and Amanda and great-grandchildren: Lana, Danielle, Martin, Zachary, Ethan, Elena, and Ophelia.

In lieu of flowers we’d be honored if you could make a donation to Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Arlington Heights, The Chicago Botanic Gardens, or JourneyCare.org.