Jean Hazen

HAZEN,
JEAN MARY SHEARER

Died Saturday, August 23, 2014 at age 95. She passed away peacefully at her home at the Glacier Hills Retirement Community in Ann Arbor, MI with family members at her side. She was born September 26, 1918 in Grand Ledge, MI. She married Wayne Escott Hazen of Three Rivers, MI on August 19, 1939 in Grand Ledge, MI. She attended Michigan State University in landscape architecture and completed a bachelors degree in history at the University of California Berkeley. She later audited courses at the University of Michigan.

Jean met Wayne Hazen on the steamship Isle de France in 1938 enroute to a vacation in Europe, and they were married a year later in 1939. They lived in Berkeley, CA while Wayne pursued his Ph.D. in physics. Their first three children were born in Berkeley. The growing family spent two summers in Colorado while Wayne conducted research, then moved to Ypsilanti and then Ann Arbor in 1949 when Wayne took a faculty position at the University of Michigan. At various times the family resided in France, Lebanon, India and England with extensive periods also spent in Bolivia, Japan and China.

She pursued many hobbies and studied and read widely. She was a charter member of the Ann Arbor Potter's Guild, and an accomplished ceramic artist for over 50 years. She was an avid indoor and outdoor gardener and a creative cook. She studied botany, and could identify on sight trees, shrubs, flowering plants and grasses native to Michigan and much of the world. She worked with noted botanists Dr. Florence Wagner at the University of Michigan and Dr. Anne Sleep at the University of Leeds. She taught herself conversational French, Arabic and Chinese and traveled extensively with her husband and family. Jean became a private pilot and then earned her commercial pilot certificate with instrument and multi-engine ratings. While in Leeds, England she completed an RAF aerobatic instructor course, then returned to Ann Arbor and worked as an aerobatic flight instructor. She worked briefly as an air taxi pilot for local businesses. She was an active member of the Ninety-Nines, an international organization of women pilots.

She contributed actively to charity, and volunteered extensively at local organizations including Planned Parenthood, International Neighbors and the League of Women Voters.

Jean is survived by her children: Sue Lillie of Denver, CO; Gretchen Hazen of Anchorage, AK; Virginia Hazen of Casper, WY and Eric Hazen of Brookline, MA and also six grandchildren: Deborah Lillie of Thibodaux, LA; Heidi Wienert of Burlington, CO; Annette Fortune of Denver, CO; Elizabeth Hazen of Brookline, MA; Nathan Hazen of Brookline, MA and Rebecca Hazen of Brookline, MA, as well as five great grandchildren.

A private observation of her passing for immediate family is being held Saturday, August 30 in Nichols Arboretum. A memorial bench will be installed near the Prairie in the Arboretum and a dedication ceremony is being arranged for friends and family for later in the year. Donations may be made in her name to the University of Michigan Botanical Garden or Nichols Arboretum.