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BORN
1942
DIED
2022
Jean Tierney Obituary
Sylvia "Jean"
Tierney, age 80,
was born to
Joseph Milton
Tierney and Lilda Claire (Harding)
on April
14th, 1942, in
Westboro, Otta-
wa, ONT, Canada. She attended
Nepean High
School and
received a bachelor's at Sir George
Williams University in
Montreal, Quebec.
Jean emigrated to the United States in 1968 after meeting her first husband, Victor, in Turkey. They explored the Earth together, and settled in Victorville, Calif., where Jean's love of cacti and succulents blossomed.
Jean met her second husband, Slim, at the Victor Valley (CA) Daily Press. They were married at the Pampa (TX) Daily News in 1981 and settled at the Albuquerque (NM) Journal in 1983. They moved to the village of San Ysidro, NM, in 1990, where Jean lived the rest of her life.
Jean retired after 24 years at the Albuquerque Journal as a copy editor and feature writer. She was known in the newsroom for her quirky humor and fashion, and for rescuing discarded
plants.
Jean loved fiber arts, spending
countless hours with sheep, spindles and cards, and her handmade floor loom. She taught many her love of yarn, nature, and science. She became a naturalized US citizen at the age of 60.
Jean passed away on
September 14th, 2022, after a ten-week battle with an unidentified pelvic cancer. At her bedside were her daughter and friends, including Slim, and her cat, Mousie.
She is survived by her brother, Fred Tierney, and his family, of London, Ont.; daughter Bridget Tierney Randles of Moriarty, NM, grandchildren; Baelee and Chance Brister and Gwynn Seeley, husband's; Victor Hellman of Victorville, CA, and Slim (Anthony) Randles of Albuquerque, many stepchildren and grandchildren across the US, dear friends, and her cat,
Mousie.
Bridget is planning a memorial gathering at the Perea Nature Trail on April 14th, 2023.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Memories and Condolences
for Jean Tierney
3 Entries
Judy Weston
September 20, 2025
Bridget
So very sorry to hear of your Mother´s passing. She was a pivotal friend in my life. Jean was instrumental in my landing a job on the ABQ Journal copy desk. One of the most rewarding jobs I ever had. Wishing you so much happiness. Be happy, please.
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Bridget Randles
January 17, 2024
Tony Hodgkinson
April 17, 2023
I am shocked to learn tonight that my friend of many decades has passed to a higher plane. Jean and I worked together at the Kingston Whig-Standard newspaper in Ontario, Canada (south of her birthplace Ottawa), in 1968. When I decided to leave the newspaper, she said: "Well, if you are leaving, so am I." And she did. I followed her adventures to many countries, starting with a sojourn on a kibbutz in Israel. Her letters were typically hilarious as she documented her travels, illustrated with off-the-wall drawings. Before she left Canada she entrusted me with her guitar and I promised to return it to her whenever we next met. It was to be a long interval, and the guitar travelled across the the Atlantic Ocean to England and back to Canada, in addition to assorted job moves. In this way, she became part of my life. Much to her delight, she was reunited with her beloved guitar in the 1980s while visiting the London Free Press (Ontario) where I was a reporter. She had an interest in emerging newspaper technology and dropped into "The Freeps" to see what production changes were underway. After a time with her brother, Fred, and his family who unbeknownst to me also lived in London, Jean opted to return to where she was happiest...the warmer climes of the southern U.S. "The sidewalks up here soak up all the sunshine," she told me. She did not like the cold. So, all to soon, off she went with her guitar back to Victorville, Calif., where she had lived. Happily, a few months later, my barely teenage son, Marc, and I visited her. Marc talks about the vacation to this day -- of hours swimming among marine life at Disney World, and of the time the three of us camped overnight on a salt lake flat on our way to Las Vegas and he was allowed to drive her car -- his first time behind the wheel. It was Marc who broke the sad news of Jean's loss to me. Having been, like me, in touch with her for many years, her passing will leave an emptiness within us. Our sympathies, belated as they are, go out to Bridget and grandchildren, and all the friends she cherished. Last Christmas. my annual card to her was returned undelivered. I had a notion she had moved farther west and that I would hear from her eventually. At least that is what I hoped. It was not to be. Instead, I am left to keep her memory close to my heart, treasuring the times we shared, basking in her humanity, vast knowledge of the world, and her vibrant intelligence. Goodbye, dear friend. Tony
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