Jean Marie Boardman, 91, of LaPorte, died Friday afternoon, Feb. 7, 2014, at IU Health LaPorte Hospital.
She was born Feb. 14, 1922, at her grandmother Elizabeth Klassen's home on Orchard Avenue, LaPorte, to R. Bernard and Anna (Klassen) Bowman and had lived in LaPorte nearly all of her life.
As a youngster Jean helped tend the fruit stand at her folks' "truck farm" on Johnson Road near the Summit. She was a 1940 graduate of LaPorte High School, vice president of her senior class, and prom queen her senior year. During wartime, Jean studied to be a practical nurse at St. Anne's Hospital in Chicago and also was an office worker at Allis-Chalmers, LaPorte. Another of her early jobs was working for LaPorte baker Eleanor Post, who prepared pies daily for local restaurants. Later, in the 1960s and 1970s, Jean baked dozens of coffeecakes and pies at her home every week for Boardman's Grocery, which was owned by her husband, Bill. From 1978 until her retirement in 1989, she worked as a clerk at LaPorte County Public Library.
Jean loved antiques, especially vintage furniture. She rescued and restored many treasures hidden in barns, basements and chicken coops, and found beauty buried beneath layers and layers of paint. Together, she and Bill planted and nurtured hundreds of trees, shrubs and flowers on their Waverly Road property. She was a tremendous cook and baker and loved to read, watch the birds and wildlife, and listen to Bill play his trumpet. She was a true matriarch, inaugurating many family traditions that will live on. Her graciousness and her million-dollar smile will be remembered by many.
On July 6, 1944, at St. Joseph Rectory in LaPorte, she married her high school sweetheart, Bill Boardman, who preceded her in death on Feb. 21, 2004.
One brother, Cletus Bowman, also preceded her in death.
Surviving are her daughter and caregiver, Beth Boardman of LaPorte; four sons, Mike (Janet), Steve (Linda) and Chris (Cindi), all of LaPorte, and Tony of Florida; 11 grandchildren: Matt (Pam) Boardman, Jennifer Boardman, Sydney (Mark) Roule and Michael Boardman, Michelle and Brittany Boardman, Adam (Brittany) Boardman, Lindsey (Andrew) Cooper and Chelsea (Benji) McDonald, and Julie and Staci Boardman; 11 great-grandchildren, Addison, Noah, Jack and Grady Boardman, Lily and Lucy Alberts, Nolan and Ian Roule, Molly Jean and Wes Cooper, and Griffin McDonald; former daughter-in-law, Sherry Boardman of Indianapolis; and one brother, Ken Bowman of Los Alamos, NM.
The Boardman clan will host a celebration of Jean's life for family and friends in the spring, her favorite time of year, on a date to be announced. At that time Jean's ashes will join those of her beloved Bill on the three-generation (and counting) family property on Pine Lake. Cutler Funeral Home and Cremation Center, LaPorte, is handling arrangements.
The family offers its gratitude to LaPorte Hospital VNA for its wonderful care of Jean for many years.
Memorial contributions may be made to LaPorte Hospital VNA, 901 S. Woodland Ave., Michigan City, IN 46360; LaPorte Salvation Army, 3240 Monroe St., LaPorte, IN 46350; Potawatomi Audubon Society, P.O. Box 1632, LaPorte, IN 46352; and LaPorte Lions Club Lions Alert Service, P.O. Box 184, LaPorte, IN 46352.
Messages of condolence may be posted at www.cutlerfuneralhome.com as well as at www.whatsnewlaporte.com.