She was born in Springfield, Massachusetts on 29 September 1934 to Frank Joseph and Ernestine Gates (Smith) DeMartine, the oldest of four children. Much of her childhood was spent in New Jersey.
After graduating from Hackensack High School in 1952, she attended Hackensack Hospital School of Nursing, earning her RN diploma in 1955. Later that year, she married Bobby Joe Caldwell, a Missouri native, and the newlyweds settled in Columbia.
Jean began her nursing career in 1956 at the recently opened University of Missouri Medical Center, worked for nearly 20 years in the recovery room of Boone County Hospital, and eventually retired from the Med Center’s Same-Day Surgery department.
After retiring, she enjoyed reading, growing flowers, piecing quilts, spoiling her kitties, and watching the furred and feathered creatures that came to her yard. She was a wonderful cook, a thoughtful friend, and a loving mom.
Survivors include daughter Sharon (Jeff) Hudnell of Columbia, son Scott (Kim) Caldwell of Hartsburg, and a sister, Gail Burdett, of Virginia. She was preceded in death by her husband, parents, a sister and a brother.
In lieu of flowers, donations to Columbia’s Humane Society or Columbia’s Second Chance would be appreciated.
My heart woke to the flight of sleepy birds
taking to hazy morning skies,
Beat to the patter of soft rains
feeding thirsty petals and washing
bright autumn leaves;
My heart leapt with new speckled fawns,
hummed like a bee among pink clover,
pulsed like fireflies on sweet summer nights.
Now, it is quiet—gone to rest.
Yet, only look and you still will find
My heart.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18