Jean Hellyer Reeves (aka “Peanuts”) died on May 5, 2012. She was born on Jan. 12 in the 20th century (she asked not to reveal her age) in Clinton, Iowa to Alma and Paul Hellyer.
Jean was raised in Mt. Carroll, Ill. by her mother and her Aunt Dorothy, as her dad was a casualty of World War II. She graduated from Mt. Carroll High School as class valedictorian and attended the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music for one year where she studied classical piano. She then attended the University of Wisconsin for one year studying music and then four years at Rockford Memorial Hospital to get her RN degree. She was a surgical nurse for three years for Dr. George York in Rockford. She was a stewardess for United Airlines for one year and then served as a 1st Lieutenant in the United States Air Force, where she was stationed at the 831 TAC Hospital at George Air Force Base, Calif. for two years and where she met her husband, base optometrist, Lt. J. Edsel Reeves. They were married on Nov. 20, 1966, in the Lutheran Church in Victorville, Calif.
After leaving the service, she worked in a doctor’s office in Apple Valley, Calif., where she gave Dale Evans her water shots. She also met Roy Rogers and rode horses at his stables with her husband. After coming to Richmond, she worked at Reid Hospital for three years as an ER Nurse. Then, she was a nurse/physician's assistant to Dr. C.G. Clarkson for 15 years and then worked for 20 or so years in her husband’s optometry office. She was proud of her hometown, Mt. Carroll, Ill. and of her English Cocker Spaniels. This multi-talented lady was also a skilled piano player. She never met a stranger and had a wonderful “Personality” (as sung by Lloyd Price).
Her kindness and friendliness will be missed by many friends and caregivers, including Betty Fields, Cheryl and Bob Spence and family, Donna and Kent Freeland, Kathy Madden Carlson, Elaine Robinson, Joan Wehrley, Carol Sharp, Joe and Ruth Plankenhorn, and especially her husband, Edsel Reeves of Richmond, formerly of Greenfield. She passed away from lung disease at home.
Friends may call from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 8, 2012, at Riggle – Waltermann Mortuary, 32 S. 11th St., Richmond, Ind. Services will be conducted at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, May 9, 2012, at the funeral home. Rev. Jerald Mielke will officiate. Burial will be in Earlham Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to Richmond Lions Club Adult Eyeglass Program in care of the funeral home, or to Mount Carroll Ill. Public Library, 208 North Main St., Mount Carroll, IL 61053, or to Help the Animals, 2101 West Main St., Richmond, IN, 47374. www.riggle-waltermann.com
