Jean Small

1936 - 2021

Jean Small
February 20, 1936 - December 19, 2021
Fresno, California - Martha Jean Small (Jean) went to be with her Lord on December 19, 2021, at the age of 85 in Fresno, California, her home for the better part of 70 years. She is survived by her husband of 59 years, Robert W. Small "Bob", her daughter Glenda Woods and her husband Chuck Woods of Vista, California, and her daughter Stacey Phillips and her husband Mark Phillips of Fresno, California, along with many nieces and nephews across the country.
Jean was the youngest of seven children born to George and Martha Jane Baldridge in Sallisaw, Oklahoma, on February 20, 1936. Jean and her mother moved to California when she was fourteen and specifically to Fresno when she was sixteen. She attended and graduated from West Coast Christian High School and soon thereafter began a life-long career in the Insurance industry. She and Bob began their loving marriage on October 20, 1962. They lived mostly in Fresno, California, but left for a few years to pastor churches on Oahu, Hawaii, and in the California Bay area. Upon their return to Fresno, Jean worked for thirty five years as an office manager and oversaw all aspects of the business at Agri-Center Insurance Agency.
Jean was a dedicated fan of Southern Gospel music and traveled with Bob to the National Quartet Convention in Louisville, Kentucky, and Pidgeon Forge, Tennessee, the Memphis Quartet Show, and the Great Western Fan Festival in Visalia, California, for many years, becoming personal friends with many of the artists performing. She loved the old songs, the harmony of the arrangements, and sharing the experience with Bob.
Jean and Bob also greatly enjoyed yearly and sometimes multiple times per year trips to Hawaii where they would reconnect with old friends and familiar places and soak in the glorious sun, gentle Hawaiian breezes, and the ever present Spirit of Aloha.
It was Jean's wish to not have a memorial service, but instead to bid her family and friends her customary quiet, dignified, and elegant "until we meet again" in heaven where she is now reuniting with her family and friends who have gone before her.