Jean Mary Wilson

Jean could hardly wait to be a grandmother as she doted on her three handsome grandsons. She always smothered them with hugs and kisses. She loved to crawl on the floor and play with them and their trucks and cars, or build a blanket fort in the living room and crawl under there with them. When Matt and Lindsey needed a break she always was available to watch them at their home.

A native of Wisconsin, Jean and her family moved to California when she was 11 years old. They first resided in San Mateo for a short time before settling in San Carlos. She attended local schools, and ultimately graduated from San Carlos High School in 1970.

It was in the summer of 1970 that she met Terry while attending an English summer class at Canada College. After a lengthy courtship they were married in 1975.

After earning her Associate of Arts degree from Canada College she began her professional career as a dental assistant before gaining employment at Sequoia Hospital where she stayed for 43 years before retiring in 2018. She made that 1-mile commute to Sequoia and worked first as a records technician where she spent the majority of her career. She knew all of Sequoia’s doctors as she would stalk them throughout the entire hospital and corner them to get them to sign their medical charts.

Jean later moved to the sleep lab, presumably to get Terry to be prescribed a C-pap mask so his snoring wouldn’t keep her awakened most nights. She ended her Sequoia career in the breast lab.

Beginning in 2001 Jean and Terry, along with close friends, travelled throughout the world. A woman of elegance, grace and style, it was in places like the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, the Champs-Elysees in Paris and St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome where her natural beauty matched their splendor.

But her favorite place in the world besides her own San Carlos home was Lake Tahoe. From when Andy and Matt were just toddlers the Wilsons spent a week each summer in Squaw Valley, a place in which the family has stayed since 1988. Once the grandchildren were born and included on the trip they have dipped their toes in the chilly waters of Lake Tahoe, or felt the drifting current of the Truckee River.

Jean was an inveterate shopper of life’s finer things, which she displayed throughout the home. She had a keen eye for bargains, excellent product knowledge and she was a tough negotiator. Whether it was a glass-blown nude from Murano Island in Italy, to a bronze-sculpted child’s skull from San Francisco’s Legion of Honor, or an original by Hungarian Csabas Markus, Jean immersed herself in the graciousness and cherished possessions that life had to offer. She taught both her sons Andy and Matt to be savvy shoppers.

It seems incredible with all the time Jean spent with her voracious appetite for shopping she somehow found time to fall in love with the San Francisco Giants. Spending a day in the sun watching the orange and black was a great way to spend an afternoon. She actually took Bryce, 10, to his very first ball game at Oracle Park.

Jean was preceded in death by her parents, Jay and Donna Zaun; and her father-in-law Phil Wilson. She is survived by her mother-in-law Lois Wilson, her husband Terry; sons Andrew and Matthew (Lindsey with Bryce, Ian and Wesley); three sisters-in-law Susan Wilson, Carol Juilleret (Dan); and Cathy Wilson. Also surviving Jean is nephew Michael Sanders (Heather with grand-nephews Brady, Lucas, Riley and Jaxon.

In lieu of flowers Jean would prefer you make a donation in her name to the American Cancer Society. Funeral services will be held at Redeemer Lutheran Church, 468 Grand Street, Redwood City on Thursday, June 3rd at 11 a.m. A private burial service will be held at Skylawn Memorial Cemetery in San Mateo following the funeral service.