Jean Carolyn Lyons

1933 - 2020

Jean Carolyn Lyons

January 6, 1933 - October 21, 2020

Rock Island, IL - Jean Carolyn Lyons, 87, of Rock Island, IL passed away on October 21, 2020 at home.

A memorial mass will be conducted at a later date. Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home and Crematory, 3030 7th Avenue, Rock Island, is assisting the family with arrangements. Memorials may be made to the Notre Dame of Maryland University, Baltimore, Maryland or St. Pius X Catholic Church, Rock Island, IL.

Jean was born on January 6, 1933 in New York City, the daughter of Herbert and Alma (Barthelme) Schramm. She later lived in New Jersey, and Virginia before moving to Baltimore where she graduated from Notre Dame Preparatory School and from the College of Notre Dame of Maryland-the oldest Catholic women's college in the U.S., with a degree in biological sciences. During her high school and college years she excelled academically and avidly participated in sports. At a later time, she earned a graduate degree from Johns Hopkins University.

After college graduation, Jean worked as a civilian in the laboratories of the Army Chemical Center at Edgewood, Maryland (near Baltimore) testing antidotes for nerve gas (sarin), a military weapon of mass destruction.

After her marriage to Marcel Monier and the birth of their two children, she became a professor in the College of Notre Dame of Maryland biology department and department chair person. She closed her long professional career as the college Alumnae Director until her retirement in 1994. For the rest of her life, Jean continued to be involved with the affairs of her college-now named Notre Dame of Maryland University, and its students, staff, and faculty. She generously contributed to the University Endowment Fund. The college was Jean's alma mater for her entire adult life.

Jean was the president of the Dumbarton Junior High School PTA and involved with other Baltimore educational activities.

Jean married Marcel Monier of Woonsocket, Rhode Island in 1954. After his death in 1993, she married Frank Lyons of Rock Island whose wife Rita died in 1992. Marcel and Frank were friends during the Korean War while stationed as army draftees at the US Army Chemical Center. They were engineers assigned to the Army Scientific and Professional Personnel Group. The Army Chemical Center was staffed by a combination of military and civilian personnel.

After moving from Towson, MD (a suburb of Baltimore) to Rock Island when Jean married Frank Lyons, she became a member of the P.E.O., the Davenport Antique Study group, several social groups, the Rock Island Arsenal Golf Club, and St. Pius X Catholic Church. As a P.E.O. member, she spearheaded one of its objectives of providing grants and loans to women who want to improve their lives through higher education.

She easily adjusted to the tranquil life-style of the Midwest after more than a half-century of more clamorous and intense East Coast living. She took pleasure in having the luxury of enough time to develop and enjoy new friendships without the previous heavy and never-ending professional demands for her time.

For her entire life, Jean's faith was a part of her life. As a church "greeter" for many years at Sunday masses, she became affectionately known as "the lady with many hats."

Jean and Frank travelled extensively and spent many winters on the palm-fringed beaches of Mexico far away from the frigid Rock Island climate.

Some of Jean's passions during her long and well-spent life were her much-loved children and grandchildren and her students whom she taught with intense dedication. She never tired of using her keen and imaginative mind to search for improved teaching methods to help her students more easily understand complex scientific principles. There was no limit to the time she spent with her students to ensure that they acquired a deep understanding of the subjects that she taught and provided the foundation for their future studies and careers.

Near the end of her long and fulfilling life, Jean took comfort from the closing lines of a W. B. Yeats' poem, "I have carried the sun in a golden cup, the moon in a silver bag" (from "Those Dancing Days are Done.")

Family members (and spouses) include her husband, Frank Lyons, Rock Island, Illinois; daughter, Lisanne Robinson (predeceased) (Richard), Sebastian, Florida; son, Christopher "Kit" (Monica) Monier, San Clemente, California; grandchildren, Michael (Amy) Sasscer, North Carolina; Michael, Marc, and Michelle Monier, and great grandchildren (twins) Luke and Molly Sasscer.

Jean will be buried at Dulaney Valley Cemetery in Baltimore, MD beside her late husband, Marcel Monier.

Condolences may be left at wheelanpressly.com.