Member of Beulah Rebekah Lodge #5, the British Columbia Fuchsia and Begonia Society, the Valley Fuchsia and Geranium Club, and The Society of Horticultural and Floral Design Judges of BC.
Eldest child of John Edward Luton and Katherine Cottman DeGroff, Jean grew up in the West End of Vancouver BC and graduated from King George High School. Jean became an RN with St. Paul's Hospital in 1946. Later that year she married Thomas Blake Murray, who had been her neighbour in the West End. From the first little family home on East 50th in south Vancouver to the post-and-beam home she and Tom built in Caulfeild, West Vancouver in 1959, Jean raised her three children with verve, adventurous cooking, and her trademark deadpan humour (just don’t mention the word “applesauce”). Somehow, she also found time to collect stamps, travel, sail with Tom out of Eagle Harbour Yacht Club, learn pottery and photography, and indulge her lifelong passion for gardening. She took a degree in Child Psychology so she could teach kindergarten at the Waldorf School in Caulfeild 1970-74, and later worked for Levi’s doing inventory at Woodward’s and other department stores around the Lower Mainland. At age 65, she tried backflips on a trampoline, just because.
In 1987 she married Ed Stephens and moved to his home in Port Coquitlam, where she created showpiece gardens and stayed active in local garden clubs. When Jean was in her 80s, she took and passed the exams to become an accredited floral design and horticulture judge through the BC Council of Garden Clubs. She was a lifelong learner with a keen mind and a weakness for historical novels. Heck, just about any book would do!
Jean is pre-deceased by Thomas Blake Murray and Ed Stephens, her son Larry, and her brother John David “Ike” Luton. She is survived by her sisters Beverley Tice and Shirley Luton (Les Toth), son Blake Murray (Kedre) and daughter Katherine Langfield (Peter). Jean will also be missed by her nieces Erin Toth and Lee Davidson, and nephews Bill and David Tice; grandchildren Aaron Murray (Leila), Kitchener and Sam Langfield, and Tanya and Paul Murray; great-grandchildren Thomas Blake and Stevie Jean Murray; and many other nieces and nephews across Canada and the US.
The family wishes to thank Dr. Linda Ducholke, whose care and attention allowed Jean to enjoy life and stay in her own home, and the MCU staff and doctors at Eagle Ridge Hospital, Port Moody. Special thanks to Paul Frazier for his friendship and care of Jean in her home, and to Lorna Herchenson and Diane Rudd for tea and adventures.
A gathering to remember Jean will be held at Burkeview Chapel, 1340 Dominion Avenue, Port Coquitlam BC on Friday, August 24 at 2:30 pm. In lieu of flowers, please feel free to donate to the charity of your choice in Jean’s honour.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18