BARBARA JEAN PALPANT

October 15, 2023
Barbara Jean (Jeanne) Palpant was born on December 12th, 1927, in Villa Park, Illinois. She
graduated from high school in 1945 and studied briefly at Wheaton College.
“A few years ago, we read mom’s admission letter to Wheaton,” says John, her fourth-born.
“She talked about wanting to attend because she had friends going there. That letter reflects who
mom was. She was so social. Time with friends—that’s what she treasured.”
In 1947, Jeanne (her preferred name) married Ed Palpant and moved to Michigan, where Ed
studied forestry at Michigan State University. They lived in a small travel trailer.
“Mom was so resilient,” says John. “She moved around the country so much with dad when he
was in the forest service. She had two kids in Michigan, two in New Mexico, and two in
Colorado.”
The family moved a total of six times before settling in Pennsylvania for a time.
After her sixth child was born, Jeanne took a job as an administrative secretary in the Dean of
Student Affairs office at Penn State University, where Ed worked in the forestry department.
“She was trained as a newspaper assistant and was very organized and a great typist and filer,”
says Risë, Jeanne’s third-born, “so she easily got the job. She pivoted her life and organized all
of us to do the duties at home so she could manage to work full time. Eddie was a toddler and
Edie an infant, but she returned to work to help support the family.”
“She worked to support us all,” says John. “That was part of mom’s resilience.”
In her free time, Jeanne often took her kids on bike rides.
“Riding bikes with her to the Penn State pool in summertime is one of my favorite memories,”
says Eddie, her fifth-born.
“I remember being a young teenager and still wanting to have our bike rides but worrying that
mom might be too old for a workout,” says Edie, her sixth-born. “At the time, she would have
been in her early 50’s!”
Jeanne loved to quilt, sew, knit, cook, and play piano and organ. The family often traveled across
the country on summer camping trips to collect pinecones for Ed’s business, so her freezers often
had seed packets sitting next to frozen peaches. Over the years, she and Ed visited missionary
friends in Venezuela, the Caribbean islands, Europe, and East Africa.
“Her legacy of love and friendship has rippled around the world,” says Sam, her first-born. “She
loved singing hymns, reciting Bible passages, and praying for the missionaries she visited.”
Jeanne’s family and friends remember her most for her hospitality, kindness, and warmth. She
taught pre-school Sunday school into her 80s, and her dining room table was frequently
surrounded by people from the local church community.
“She always lit up whenever anybody came to visit,” says John.
“Mom never focused on herself,” says Ted, her second-born. Even as her health waned, “if we
asked her what she wanted to eat or do, she would just say, ‘Whatever you want to do. I just
want to be with you kids.’”
In 2008, Jeanne and Ed moved to Buena Vista, Colorado, and in 2014, after 66 years of
marriage, Ed passed away. Jeanne then moved to Elburn, Illinois, to live with her son, John, and
daughter-in-law, Nancy. She passed away on October 13th at the age of 95.
In her last hours, she said frequently what she had said all her life: “Thank you, thank you, thank
you.”
Jeanne is survived by six children, 18 grandchildren, and 19 great grandchildren, with another
one on the way.