Jean G. Groundwater  Vesely 1940 - 2008

Jean Paula (Groundwater) VESELY Jean Vesely, beloved wife, mother and grandmother, passed away on August 15, 2008 surrounded by her family after a valiant battle against heart disease and a rare form of lymphoma. She was 68. Jean was born on May 2, 1940, raised in Chicago, and graduated magna cum laude from Illinois State University with a degree in education. She taught art at elementary schools in Ohio, Illinois and Michigan. A painter who worked mostly with watercolors, she had a deep appreciation of the fine arts.

Jean later worked as a tax preparer at H&R Block and as a successful real estate agent in Sacramento, Calif., and she was a self-taught computer whiz. She traveled extensively in Europe, Asia and Alaska. Jean especially loved Hawaii and the Northern California coast. She found great peace walking the beaches near Carmel, Mendocino and Santa Cruz, Calif. An avid cook, Jean continued family traditions of baking, canning and sewing - passions she passed onto her two daughters. She lived on Mercer Island for the past 18 years and enjoyed boating on Lake Washington. She is survived by her husband of 44 years James Vesely, editorial page editor of The Seattle Times; her daughters Deborah (Vesely) Twelker, of Kirkland, and Rebecca Vesely, of San Francisco; and her granddaughter Julia Twelker.