Born outside of Benton, Arkansas to sharecropper parents, Jean was raised to be a tireless hard-worker, a woman who didn't stop a task until it was finished. As a child, her chores on the farm lasted from immediately after school until after dark; at which time she would start her homework, with the help of her mother's oil lamp. If she had free time when she was young, she spent it outside - as an adult, her favorite activity also took her outside - mowing her acres of lawn on her riding mower. Mowing was something she enjoyed without fail, all the way into her 93rd year.
Jean was married to Delbert Deaton, the son of her parents' best friends. Though he had know her since the day she was born, a chance meeting in Texas in 1946 after a few years apart was all they needed to be convinced to spend their lives together.
Jean, or Gigi as she was called by most that knew her, was a deeply religious woman, who loved her church and to praise through song. She loved both traditional and contemporary gospel music, and it could always be counted on to lift her spirits.
Gigi was a shining example of determination, strength, and independent spirit. She shrugged off injuries as though they were nothing. She could work harder and longer than many men and women half her age. If anyone has ever been fitting of the saying "she broke the mold", it was Gigi - there was no one else like her - the cloth she was cut from was made just for her.
She was tough, fierce, and so very loved by everyone lucky enough to know her. Countless friends and loved ones grieve her loss.
She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Delbert Burl Deaton, her adored son, Delbert Burl Deaton II, her sister Juanita, and parents Sam and Leola Fletcher.
She has been survived by her daughters, Ravana Deaton and Debby Ward, life-long best friend Dorothy Ray, son-in-law Ed Ward, friend Rita Hood, three grandchildren April Thatcher, Roy Crutchfield, and Becky Jackson, six great-granchildren, Gabrielle Riggs Thatcher, Drew Jackson, Brady Jackson, Hailey Crutchfield, Addison Crutchfield, and Braden Crutchfield.
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