Jean Bowling Quenon

Jean Elizabeth Bowling was born in Lewisburg, West Virginia, in 1930, and grew up in White Sulphur Springs, just down the road. Jean was a “tomboy” who loved doing things that women at the time were not supposed to do, like learning to fly an airplane, and getting into medical school. However, she turned down med school, taking a more traditional path when she met and married Bob Quenon in 1953.

Both were graduates of West Virginia University, and the early years of their marriage were spent moving around the state to different coal mining towns as Bob got promoted from mine foreman to mine superintendent, while Jean took care of every other aspect of their lives. In 1968 they moved to Houston, Texas, in another career move for Bob, starting the Monterey Coal Company, a subsidiary of Exxon.

It was in Houston that Jean decided to go to law school, graduating from The University of Houston with her JD in 1972. She hung out her shingle as a solo practitioner and took on whatever cases walked in the door, from helping someone legally change their name, to drafting wills and trusts, to a civil case representing a rather large trucking company, which she won. Jean took the proceeds of that case and organized a month-long trip to Europe with the kids and her mother-in-law. This was, of course, in the days before email or fax machines, yet she planned and executed the entire trip flawlessly, meeting up with Bob in Paris for the last week.

In 1978 they moved to St. Louis, MO, where Bob became CEO of Peabody Coal Company. At that point Jean gave up practicing law and enjoyed an active social life, learning to play golf, joining a book club, and traveling around the United States and abroad. Her talents did not go unnoticed in the city of Ladue where they lived, and in 1995 Jean was recruited to be the Mayor of Ladue, a position she held for eight years. Jean loved being “Madam Mayor,” and attributed all her mayoral success to her excellent city council, staff, and police and fire personnel.

After Bob’s retirement, Jean and Bob spent most summers in Saratoga, Wyoming, where they owned a vacation home at the Old Baldy Club, forging close friendships that lasted for decades. Fishing, golfing, the cookout – Jean loved it all, and was generous in sharing the beauty of the North Platte River Valley with friends, relatives, and subsequent generations.

Jean and Bob were married for 60 years, until Bob’s death in 2013. It was a partnership of equals, filled with love, adventure, and good humor. Jean missed him terribly and always looked forward to joining him someday, somewhere.

Her final years were spent in Kenwood, CA, with her daughter and son-in-law Ann and Alec Peters, and then in Boulder, CO, in an assisted living facility near her son Richard Quenon, where she lived in a comfortable, light-filled apartment until her death this month.

Jean was a remarkable woman – beautiful, funny, generous, smart as a whip, kind to everyone, with strong values she never strayed from. She was a wonderful mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.

Jean is survived by her children: Evan Quenon of Austin TX, Ann Peters (Alec) of Kenwood CA, and Richard Quenon of Boulder CO. Jean is also survived by eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

For anyone wishing to make a donation in Jean’s memory, the family suggests the Corbett Medical Foundation, PO Box 343, Saratoga, WY 82331, or the St. Louis Art Museum, www.slam.org/membership/give-tribute/