Jean Christman, 96, passed away peacefully on September 30, after a short illness. This marks the finale of a joyous life, shaped by passion for education. Jean was a high teacher by profession and the wife of long-time Wake Forest Chaplain Ed Christman. For everything Ed accomplished, Jean was there with him and sometimes even ahead of him. They were a perfect pair.
Jean was born August 4, 1926, in Cadiz, Kentucky, the daughter of Robert and Emma Cox Sholar. She had six siblings: sisters Gwendolyn and Evelyn, and brothers Lawrence, Clarence, Donald, and Ronald. The children grew up on a small farm and attended a one room school. Jean was highly influenced by her mother’s commitment to education for both girls and boys.
The family moved to Hopkinsville in 1937. Jean graduated from Hopkinsville High School and then Bethel Women’s Junior College, both as Valedictorian. In 1949, she enrolled at Wake Forest College sight unseen.
From the moment of arrival, Jean adored Wake Forest. As a work-study student, she had a job on the cafeteria line. One day, while serving coffee, she met Ed Christman, who fell in love with her on the spot. They married in 1952. In 1956, Ed and Jean moved with the College to the new campus in Winston-Salem. Daughters Carolyn and Kim were born in 1957 and 1962. Winston-Salem was home for the rest of their lives.
In Winston-Salem, Jean worked as a math and literacy tutor. She was especially interested in helping University staff members improve their academic skills for career advancement. Decades later, when Ed went to Baptist Hospital emergency room, he met a nurse who said, “I know your wife! Her tutoring gave me the skills to go to nursing school!”
Jean valued opportunities for women. She said, “The women I knew, my mother and aunts, were intelligent and interested in the same things that men were interested in: politics, sports and news. I married a man whose own mother had non-traditional accomplishments for her times: she went to college, she drove a car, and she worked as a corporate vice president.”
Jean leaves behind daughters Carolyn and Kim, sons-in-law Ron Shehee and Stan Dotson, and grandson Francisco Shehee, plus friends in Winston-Salem and in the Wake Forest community.
Read the Ed Christman biography site www.edchristman.com / Jean’s Story section for a full biography and photos. To honor this remarkable woman, make a gift to something you love! You can consider a gift to the Wake Forest University Baptist Student Union, the Ed and Jean Christman Fellowship to the Divinity School, or the Ed and Jean Christman Poteat scholarship.
The memorial service will be held Tuesday October 11 at 10:30am, at Salemtowne Community, SAAL gathering room, 1000 Salemtowne Drive, in Winston-Salem.
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