Jean Breithaupt

Edith Jean (Laswell) Breithaupt, 1932 – 2025 Edith Jean Breithaupt, 92, most recently of Ashland City, TN, died peacefully at Hillcrest Healthcare in Ashland City on August 3, 2025. She was born in her grandmother's home in Highland, KY, on December 11, 1932, to Margaret Mae (Butt) Laswell and Harrison Edward Laswell. She was the first child in what would become a family of seven children. They lived on a farm in Kings Mountain, KY, until Jean was in the third grade. She loved those early years living on the farm. She enjoyed the beautiful rolling hills of Kentucky and the farm animals, especially the baby chicks and calves in the springtime. She even loved walking daily to school through the woods and over the foot log. Her family moved from the farm into the town of Kings Mountain when she was in the third grade. She lived with her family there until she graduated from Waynesburg High School in 1951. Following graduation, she moved to Indianapolis, IN, to live with her aunt and uncle, Betty and Glen Austin, and seek employment. She acquired a position at Eli Lilly and Company, where she was a valued employee for eight years. She met her husband, George Robert Breithaupt, in Indianapolis, where they married, and they had three children: Terri Ann, Timothy Robert, and Cynthia Jean. She was a woman of deep and genuine faith. Her relationship and trust in Jesus guided her throughout each day of her life. For many years, she was a devoted Wesley United Methodist Church member in Ludlow, KY. She loved worshiping and fellowshipping with her church family. She enjoyed sending cards for all types of occasions to shut-ins and church members to let them know their church family was thinking of them. She loved to cook and especially enjoyed finding and studying special recipes for church suppers and all types of get-togethers for family and friends. She loved creating and hosting meals and was known for her homemade yeast bread, pies, cakes, and other baked goods, all made from scratch. These included everything from butterscotch pies to blackberry bars, apple crisp, and hummingbird cake. People who thought they hated fruitcakes tried and loved her annual Christmas fruitcake. Her brother, Gary, often said, "Even Jean's sandwiches were better than anyone else's." She was a devoted mother. Her main priority in life was to be a good mother to her three children. She took the vows she said at her children's baptisms very seriously and raised her children to know and love the Lord. Later, when she became a grandparent, she took on many names and was the best: Grandma Jean, Grammy, and Mimi to her six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, whom she dearly loved and had a special relationship with each one. Her greatest joy throughout life was spending time with family. She loved telling stories about spending time with her Grandma Nannie Butt and her Grandfather Dr. Laswell, and many aunts, uncles, and cousins who lived nearby and would visit often. She loved her parents dearly and always said the best gifts her mother and father gave her were her sisters and brothers, Peggy, Nancy, Bill, Betty, Gary, and Bonita. They all enjoyed family gatherings, everything from family reunions to making pumpkin rolls together, until they were well into their golden years. After marrying, she enjoyed spending time with the Breithaupt family, too. She dearly loved her parents-in-law and sisters-in-law like her own family. She had special relationships with all her nieces and nephews on both sides of her family. She enjoyed being with them and often baked their favorite desserts or made their favorite food for those visiting her. She enjoyed working as a receptionist, assisting Dr. Harold Markesbery, MD, in Ludlow for several years. After Dr. Markesbery's practice closed, she enjoyed working in retail for McAlpin's Dept Store in downtown Cincinnati and Dillard's in Crestview, KY. Later, she went to work for the IRS in Covington, KY, and after ten years of service, retired at the age of seventy-nine. Jean had a dry wit and was a great storyteller. She had a lot of friends. She kept in contact with childhood and high school friends and had many church and work friends with whom she loved talking and laughing. She made friends easily throughout her life and quickly became friends with her children's friends and people at church when she moved to Nashville, TN. She was an avid UK basketball and Cincinnati Reds fan, and she bonded with many people talking about sports. Though she suffered a significant stroke in 2020 and was unable to talk for almost the last five years of her life, she found a way to communicate love, joy, and gratitude to the many caretakers and visitors she came to know and love at Hillcrest Healthcare in Ashland City, TN. She was preceded in death by her parents, Margaret and Harrison Laswell, her sisters, Peggy and Nancy, her brothers, Bill and Gary, and George Breithaupt. She is survived by, her children, Terri Ann Schimp, Tim (Lisa) Breithaupt, and Cynthia (Jim) Patterson; grandchildren Caleb Schimp, Hilary Schimp Harmeling, Joshua Breithaupt, Isabel Breithaupt, Evan Patterson, and Austin Patterson; and great-grandchildren Jak and Ace Harmeling; her sisters: Betty Bishop and Bonita Laswell, and her sister-in-law, Sharon Laswell, as well as cousins, and many nieces, nephews and other family members. Visitation will begin at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, August 9, at Spurlin Funeral Home in Stanford, KY. The funeral service will follow at 12:00 p.m., followed by her burial at the Highland United Methodist Church Cemetery located at 9728 KY Highway #1247 in Highland, Lincoln County, KY. In Lieu of Flowers, donations can be made to the Highland Cemetery Fund. Highland Cemetery Fund Scott Cheetham 1780 Greasy Ridge Rd. Stanford, KY 40484