Jean C. Sessions

AGAWAM — Jean C. Sessions passed away on Wednesday, May 10, 2023, at Baystate Medical Center, after a sudden cerebrovascular stroke. She was 98. Born Francese Jean Cobleigh on November 15, 1924, in Springfield, she was the daughter of the late George L. (Jack) and Francese (Knight) Cobleigh of Irvington Street. She attended Homer Street Elementary, White Street Elementary, and Forest Park Junior High, before graduating from the High School of Commerce in 1942 and working across the street as a clerk at the Springfield Armory during the War. After spending a year at Defiance College in Ohio, she enrolled at Mount Holyoke College where she graduated in 1949 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Culture. For nearly forty years she taught kindergarten in the Springfield Public Schools, first at Frederick Harris, then Memorial, and finally two decades at Sumner Avenue, retiring in 1990. She and her husband moved to Agawam in 1961, raised two sons, and lived there for the rest of their lives. She was a lifelong member of Old First Church, Court Square, serving on several boards and committees, until it disbanded in 2007, after which she and her husband joined Mittineague Congregational Church in West Springfield. For many years she was a volunteer auxiliary in the maternity ward at Wesson Women’s Hospital, then Baystate Medical Center, and finally the Cardiac Rehabilitation Program in the Tolosky Center at 3300 Main Street. In her retirement years, she also assisted the High School of Commerce Key Club, helped kindergarten students at Washington Elementary in the Springfield School Volunteers Read Aloud Program, and provided and served food at the Open Pantry Loaves and Fishes Community Kitchen. She was a member of the Retired State, County, and Municipal Employees Association of Massachusetts, the Mary Lyon Society of her beloved alma mater, and the Kiwanis Club of Springfield. She was also an enthusiastic candlepin bowler in the Schoolmasters League at Agawam Bowl right up until the beginning of the pandemic. She was predeceased by her husband, John C. Sessions, of fifty years in 2008, and her brother, George L. Cobleigh, Jr., in 2018. She leaves her two sons, Scott and his wife Reiko Sono of Amherst and Mark of Hallandale Beach, FL; a sister-in-law, Eleanor (Washburn) Cobleigh of Agawam; four grandchildren, Shotaro, Maya, Sofia, and Kayla; a nephew, Bruce Cobleigh; a niece, Nancy Fields and her husband Gary; grandnephews Sean and Eric Fields; grandniece Laurel; and great-grandnephew Boris. Calling hours will be on Sunday, August 13, 2023, from 1–3pm at the AGAWAM CURRAN JONES FUNERAL HOME, 745 Cooper Street. Jean will come to rest beside her late husband John at the Massachusetts Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Agawam. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Open Pantry Community Services, P.O. Box 5127, Springfield, MA 01101–5127, or to a charity of one’s choice.