Jean Searle

Jean (Mrs. Don) Searle, 87, of Marshalltown, died Sunday, July 3, at the Villa del Sol. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, July 8, at the First Baptist Church, 700 East Olive Street, Marshalltown, with Pastor Dick Sipe officiating. She will be laid to rest in the Riverside Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 5-7:00 p.m. on Thursday at the Mitchell Family Funeral Home. For condolences, please visit www.mitchellfh.com. Ph. 641-844-1234. Jean Swift Searle was born on June 9, 1924, to Victor Swift and Clara (Roseland) Swift on a farm north and west of Gilman, IA. She had two bothers Earl and Stanley, both deceased, and sister, Arlene, of Connecticut. Jean spent here entire life within 10 miles of her birthplace. Jean and Don had three children: Lee (Cheryl) of Marshalltown, Joan (Larry Nesset) of Marion and Lisa of Marshalltown. They have two grandchildren, Matt (Amy) of Marshalltown and Lindsay (Ryan) Dea of Cumming. There are two great grandchildren Gage and Emma Jean. There are two additional great grandchildren expected within the year. Jeans earliest memories were of the depression years. They were memories like riding in the familys model T Ford Touring car with the isinglass curtains and nearly freezing-to-death on a school bus so crudely built you could see the frozen road through the cracks in the floor. When she was in grade school she often recalled the record setting weather of the dust bowl days of the 1930s when her dad walked to Gilman to get the mail. He and other neighbors spent their winter days scooping the roads by hand only to have them blow shut and have to start the process all over again.Upon graduation from Gilman high school in 1942, she took a job in Marshalltown as a telephone switchboard operator and lived in Mrs. Atkinsons boarding house. She met Don Searle at the Firemens Annual Dance after he returned from the Army Air Force in 1945. They were married on January 18, 1948. They lived with Dons parents for six months and continued to live in the house where Don was born for the next 38 years. Their grandson, Matt, wife Amy and great grandson Gage live there today and carry on the family farming tradition. In 1986, Don and Jean remodeled Rock Valley Schoolhouse #2 about 400 yards to the south of the family farm. This was the place were Don went through school and graduated eighth grade. Jean and Don moved to Olive Estates in 2001. Jean later moved to Villa del Sol Nursing home and still fondly recalled daily life in their schoolhouse home. On May 29, Jeans health took a serious setback when health problems sent her to hospital care for a week. She returned to Villa del Sol where her many friends on the staff gave her around-the-clock care. Iowa River Hospice supported here final struggle. She passed into eternal rest with her family present on the evening of July 3. Jean was always sensitive to the needs of others and nurtured her family, neighbors and friends in their hour of need. She made a special effort to take her dog, Ziggy, on visits to shut-ins. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to First Baptist Church or the Marshalltown Senior Center.