Jean Angus Reeve

GIRARD, Ill. -- Jean Angus Reeve, 92, of Girard, formerly of El Dara, died at 12:50 p.m. Sunday, (Aug. 5, 2012) in Pleasant Hill Village, Girard, where she had lived since 2010.

Mrs. Reeve was born in Perth, Western Australia, on May 7, 1920, to William Forbes Angus and Lurline Williams Angus.

In 1942, she was a 22-year-old sales clerk in a jewelry store in Perth when a 27-year-old U.S. soldier, J. Frederick Reeve, came in to buy a brooch for his mother. They dated for only a short time before he was reassigned in the Pacific Theater, but they continued their relationship by letter. In 1947, she accepted his marriage proposal.

After a year of navigating the immigration paperwork required on both sides of the Pacific, she left Australia and all of her family July 27, 1948, by ship. She arrived in San Francisco on Aug. 17, 1948. Scarcely a month later, on Sept. 18, 1948, they married in El Dara. She lived in the town or on her family's nearby dairy farm until 2008, when she moved to Springfield, Ill.

Mrs. Reeve was a homemaker who mastered the changes from the urban life of Perth to rural life on her husband's dairy farm, and the change from Australian culture to American culture. In the early 1950s, she was a guest speaker at local schools, where she explained life in Australia. She became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1969 and embraced her adopted country without abandoning her love for Australia. Even after more than 60 years in America, her speech still had some phrases and words that marked her as Australian. She taught her love of both nations and cultures to her children and grandchildren.

She was active in the El Dara Methodist Church, helping teach Sunday school and vacation Bible school, and assisting with numerous church events, such as wedding receptions and church dinners. She was also active in an informal network of women from other countries who had married U.S. servicemen during or after World War II.

Survivors include a son, Stewart (Lela) of Springfield; and daughters Elizabeth Burnett (James) of Kaufman, Texas, and Margaret Stephens (husband Ron, deceased) of Federal Way, Wash.; seven grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband; her parents; her sister; and two nieces. Cremation rites were accorded by Cremation Services of Central Illinois in Chatham.

SERVICES: 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 18, in Barry United Methodist Church, 720 Perry St., Barry, with the Rev. Sheila Kelly and Rev. Gilbert Fletcher conducting. Private family inurnment will be at the Taylor-Martin Cemetery near El Dara.

VISITATION: 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 18, until services in the church.

ARRANGEMENTS: Staab Polk Memorial Home, Chatham.

MEMORIALS: Barry United Methodist Church or Alzheimer's Association, 2921 Greenbriar Drive, Suite C, Springfield, IL 62704.

WEBSITE: www.staabpolk.com.

Condolences may be expressed online at www.whig.com.