Jean Valentine Costello

December 13, 1919 - June 27, 2021

Jean Valentine Costello, 101, of New Rochelle, New York, passed away peacefully on June 27th

surrounded by her loving children.

Jean was married to Edward Costello on February 14, 1942 - Valentine’s Day; they were

married 48 years until his death in 1990. They had ten children: Edward, Cathleen, Jon,

Deborah, James, Mary Lisa, Patrick, Michael, Eileen, and Alison. Edward and Jon predeceased

her. She is also survived by her devoted 15 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, with one

more on his way, and her brother, James Valentine.

Jean was born in Chicago, Illinois, on December 13, 1919. She grew up in Peoria and Chicago

where she was raised by the French side of her family, which included her loving father, aunts,

and uncles. In 1937, she made an adventurous decision and left Chicago to attend the

University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa where she met her future husband at her first Newman

Club dance. Their encounter was purely by chance, for Ed had pulled her name out of a hat.

This chance encounter changed the course of her life and led to what would turn out to be an

extraordinarily happy and bountiful marriage.

When Jean and Ed married, Ed worked at a pharmaceutical company developing plasma for the

war effort.They started their family with the birth of Edward and in 1957, with a job transfer,

moved to New York with their then eight children. Two more would follow in the ensuing years.

They raised their ten children in New Rochelle, New York, and lived in the same house for

sixty-three years, yet Jean never forgot her midwestern roots.

Jean was undaunted by caring for her family of ten children - five boys and five girls - intent on

enriching and tirelessly supporting their education and life choices. Family life was central to

Jean and she made sure that dinner was on the table at 6:30 every evening and everyone ate

together - twelve people around the kitchen table. At one time we tried to count the number of

breakfasts she made, school lunches she packed, dinners she prepared, birthday cakes that

she baked, holiday dinners she served - but we soon realized that it was an impossible task.

Later in life, Jean took particular joy in rooting for the Crimson Tide, watching Mariano Rivera

and the New York Yankees, and devotedly following the career of Roger Federer. On the eve of

Wimbledon, Roger Federer lost his number one fan.

Jean left the University of Alabama before completing her degree, but her intellectual curiosity

never waned. In fact, it only increased as she took courses at Manhattanville College - the alma

mater of her daughters - where her enthusiasm led to her joining the nuns’ luncheons and their

small discussion groups. She was also famous among those who knew her for reading the New

York Times from cover to cover every single day and clipping articles of interest for her children.

In fact, she once said that her favorite time of the day was when she heard the newspaper hit

the driveway as it was delivered each morning.Jean had an adventurous spirit and in later years never hesitated to accept an invitation to

travel, which took her to many places: Israel, France, Italy, and England. Every trip offered a

special experience, the details of which she never forgot and enjoyed sharing her memories

with all of us.

Jean was the matriarch of our family, the center around whom the rest of us revolved.

The funeral service will be held on June 30th at 10:00am at Immaculate Heart of Mary,

Scarsdale, New York. Monsignor Luke Sweeney will be officiating. Burial will follow the funeral

at Gate of Heaven cemetery. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Edwin L. Bennett

Funeral Homes, Scarsdale, New York