Jean Hegwood

1926 - 2015

Jean Hegwood

Pascagoula

Jean Hegwood, 89, died Saturday, July 18, 2015, in her home on River Road in Pascagoula in the presence of her husband Tommy and their three children, Martin, Liz, and Katherine. Jean was born on the Fourth of July, 1926, in Hattiesburg, the last of five children born to J.B. "Buck" Anderson and Vesta Pittman Anderson. She grew up in tough times during the Great Depression, and when she lost her beloved father at age thirteen, she had to move in with relatives in Columbia. These hard early years gave her a life-long love for the underdog and a sense of duty to help those in need. She did not merely profess her Christianity, she lived it.

She graduated from Columbia High School in 1944 and went to the booming shipyard town of Pascagoula to work at the wartime post office branch on 14th Street. She stayed in Pascagoula, and when the troops - that Greatest Generation -- came home she soon met Tommy Hegwood, a local boy who had been a Sergeant First Class in the army during the occupation of Japan. They fell in love -- a love that was to last their entire life together -- and were married on December 17, 1949.

Except for a brief time when her kids were young, she worked her whole life. Jean was an assistant to Jolly McCarty, an old friend from Hattiesburg, at Mississippi Power Company, and later she worked at Hancock Bank. She also pitched in when needed at the family business, Hegwood's Flowers. She was well into her seventies when she finished her career opening new accounts at Hancock Bank.

Jean was a friend to all, well known throughout the area, a kind and loving soul. She endured the rough times with humility and love and determination, and ultimately she prevailed. She genuinely loved people, and in return they loved her. She and Tommy worked hard, but they also had a lot of fun. They loved boating on the gulf and along the Pascagoula River, picnicking at the old pavilion at Beach Park, dining and dancing up and down the coast, and, above all, having good times with good friends.

Jean is survived by Tommy, her husband of 65 years. She also leaves behind her children: Martin Hegwood (Linda) of Canton, Elizabeth Smith of Oxford, and Katherine Graham (Neal) of Germantown, Tennessee. She had five grandchildren: Eliza Ueltschey (Andrew) of Jackson, Reese Smith of Oxford, William Hegwood of Biloxi, Mary Katherine Graham of Germantown, Tennessee, and Al Graham, also of Germantown. She had one great-grandchild, Thomas Farrell Ueltschey of Jackson. Jean Hegwood was a member of the Parkway Baptist Church.

Visitation will be Tuesday, July 21, 2015, 10:00-11:00am, at O'Bryant-O'Keefe Funeral Home in Pascagoula. Funeral Service will follow at 11:00 am in the funeral home chapel with Rev. Martin Britt officiating. Interment will be at Machpelah Cemetery in Pascagoula. You may send your condolences to her family at O'BRYANT-O'KEEFE FUNERAL HOMES.