Jean Sloan Harper

Charlotte - Jean Sloan Harper, 90, passed away peacefully on May 1, 2019, at Southminster Retirement Community. She was born October 16, 1938, in Charlotte, NC, the daughter of the late Clyde Neely Sloan and Maude Beaty Sloan.

Jean graduated from Salem Academy in 1946, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1950. She received a master’s degree in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1952. After graduation, she moved to New York City to work in publishing at Scribner’s. In New York City, she met and married Carroll G. Harper, a patent attorney, in 1954. They enjoyed living in Manhattan and were members of the Opera Guild and the Knickerbocker Club. There, they joined St. James Episcopal Church, beginning Jean’s lifetime of service to the Episcopal church.

Jean continued to work in publishing at Scribner’s and Vogue, while pursuing her dream of becoming a mystery writer. In 1987, she won a short story competition sponsored by the Oxford University Press for works in the English ghost tradition. The judge, Stephen King, was quoted as saying “I thought it was a fine story and my compliments to its creator.”

In addition to writing, Jean was an accomplished musician, having played the cello, harp, piano and classical guitar at various times in her life. She was a water color painter, a horseback rider and an avid gardener. She took her last horseback ride at age 82 in the Teton Mountains. She became interested in politics and, although a lifelong Republican, campaigned door to door for Barak Obama on her eightieth birthday. Even as her mind and body failed her, she always retained her sense of humor and Southern gentility.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Carroll, her parents and her cousin, Neely F. Dixon, Jr. Jean is survived by her cousins, Susan G. Cain and L. Ann Gathings of Charlotte, Barbara H. Settlemyre (Larry) of Cary, Anne Dixon Sweets of Louisville, KY and numerous other cousins. The family extends special thanks to her assistant, Stanage Elling, the nurses and staff at Southminster Retirement Community and Hospice of Charlotte for their kindness to Jean.

A memorial service will be held at the Southminster Chapel on Monday, May 6, 2019, at 11 a.m., with visitation to follow. A private interment will be at Steele Creek Presbyterian Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Jean’s honor to Christ Episcopal Church of Charlotte, Southminster Community Fund or Foster Village Charlotte.