Jean Pryor Pickens

Jean is survived by her sons Bruce Andrew (Drew) Pickens, Jr. of Charlotte, NC and Jeff Allan Pickens of Snowdoun, AL; her daughters, Patti Pickens Robinson of Atlanta, GA and Leslie Pickens Stewart (Ronald) of Birmingham, AL; her grandchildren, Emily Caroline Pickens, Bruce Andrew Pickens III, and Batson Henslee Ellen Pickens of Charlotte, Racheal Pickens (Kip) of Nashville, TN and Landon Harvey Pickens of Montgomery, AL, Frank Mason Robinson of Atlanta, Bradley Thomas Holmes of Live Oak, FL, Daniel Bruce Holmes of Trussville and Jessie Elaina Jean Holmes of Mobile, AL; and great-grandchild Elijah Duncan Pickens (Racheal) of Nashville. She is preceded in death by her husband Bruce Andrew Pickens of Montgomery and parents Clarence Harvey Pryor and Jessie Mae Revis Pryor of Thomaston, Georgia.

Jean was born in 1932 in Thomaston. She grew up there and attended Robert E. Lee High School, where she played on the tennis team and the basketball team, which won a state championship. She also played baseball and softball, and enjoyed the pool there during the summer and the recreation center with music and dancing.

After graduating from high school, she attended Georgia State College for Women in Milledgeville, GA for a year and then transferred to her beloved Auburn University in 1952, where she was a member of the Phi Mu sorority, placed highly in the Miss Auburn pageant and met her husband Bruce. They moved to Birmingham after college and eventually to Montgomery.

Jean worked as a loan officer for City Federal Savings and Loan and later for the SouthTrust Bank Mortgage Department. During her professional career and after the accidental death of her husband Bruce in a vehicle accident, she managed her household, raised her four children and worked to help put them through high school and college. She was also thankful for the loving help of family and friends along the way.

Jean was an avid reader, was highly articulate and provided valued guidance to her family over the years. She and her family were members of the Baptist Church. She loved and enjoyed being with her family and was very involved with her children in youth sports and activities, with a love of the outdoors, and was a wonderful cook. She followed politics and the events of the day, and loved animals and the family pets. She also enjoyed traveling to far-off places such as Montreal, Canada and New York, New York.

Jean retired from the bank in 1998 at age 66. She remarried later in life and moved to Bluff Park in Birmingham, and eventually to Trussville near family, including grandchildren.

Funeral services will be Friday, December 20th at 1 pm at Leak-Memory Chapel and Greenwood Cemetery in Montgomery, with visitation from 11:30 am to 1 pm. Friends and family are welcome to attend and celebrate Jean's life.

The family would like to thank St. Vincent’s East Hospital, Aspire Physical Recovery Center and Comfort Care Hospice in Birmingham and Trussville Fire and Rescue for their care, efforts and dedication.