Jean Anne Oden

Jean Anne Oden passed away peacefully on Sunday, April 14th, 2019 at the age of 87. Jean was born November 18, 1931 in Indianapolis, Indiana as the daughter of Marion A. Beard and Alice Gohn Beard. She married Donald G. Oden in 1954, who preceded her in death, along with her parents, brother (Joseph M. Beard) and three infant sons. Jean is survived by her daughter Shirley Pulley (Allen), grandson Mark Eisenhower (Taylor) and grandson Matt Pulley as well as sister in law's Mrs. Patricia Hess and Mrs. Helen Oden, many loved nieces and nephews. As a young girl, Jean spent summers with her two aunts in New Jersey following her mother's death. They showed her endless love and how much fun life could be. When not on the east coast she spent most of her time with life-long friend Shirley Piaquadio (Miller). She graduated from Shortridge High School in 1949 and attended both Purdue and Indiana Universities. Jean and her family were permanent fixtures in the Indianapolis area. Her grandfather and father sold fresh fruit and vegetables at the City Market until 1938. Her father and uncle opened Beards Food Mart and Epicure Shop at 56th and North Illinois which operated continuously until his death in 1971. As a retiree, she loved spending time with her family, traveling and seeing the country, making new friends and cherished morning coffee with great friends at Panera Bread. She enjoyed creating elegant interior home décor and baking iced butter cookies that vanished instantly when her grandsons were near. She was a highly competitive card player when it came to "Hand and Foot" and particularly enjoyed matches with Matt, Lacey, Greg, Katie, Mark and Taylor. She wrote to her grandsons . . . "If you have high morals, you'll be proud of yourself. If you show others respect, they will respect you. If you are proud of yourself and others respect you, you will be happy."