Jean Donaldson Mahavier

Jean Donaldson Mahavier, age 92, passed away peacefully after a short illness on April 28, 2025, at her home on Galveston Bay. Born July 6, 1932, in Wichita Falls, to John Currie Donaldson and Fanny Grant Donaldson, Jean grew up in Longview and Houston.

On a church hayride in Houston in 1946, Jean met the love of her life, William S "Bill" Mahavier. When he proposed a few years later, she had just graduated from Rice University with a degree in mathematics. She had three weeks in which to sew her wedding dress, before they married on September 1, 1953. Their first home was a garage apartment in Austin, while Bill was in graduate school. Next came a brief stint in Chicago; then the couple moved to Knoxville, Tennessee. There they welcomed a daughter, then a son, and declared their family complete. After a few years, they moved once again, settling in Atlanta, Georgia. Due in great part to Jean's supportive role as helpmate, Bill had a long and successful career as a professor of mathematics at Emory University. The family divided their time between school years in Atlanta and summers on the Texas coast, where they maintained close relationships with extended family and spent happy days on the water. The couple enjoyed 57 years of marriage, until Bill's passing October 8, 2010.

Jean's father was born in Paisley, Scotland, and her mother was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, to parents who immigrated from London, England. Jean delighted in her heritage and attended many a Scottish weekend, sharing her stories at the Clan Donald and Clan Grant tents. Jean loved to travel. After taking courses and becoming fluent in Spanish, she spent a summer in Spain. With Bill, she explored Mexico, Costa Rica, Peru, England, Scotland, and Australia; and together they toured the Western United States on motorcycle.

A talented poet, Jean's works were published at least seventeen times, including several times by Dos Gatos Press (Austin). She was an active member of several writing groups including The Georgia Poetry Society. Through the 1990s and 2000s, Jean was chairman of GPS's Poetry in the Schools program, arranging visits to Georgia schools and taking other poets with her for all-day sessions. In this way, she introduced countless students to the joy of poetry, and quite a few poets to the joy of teaching, too. In 2010, Jean was honored to be elected a member of the National League of American Pen Women.

Jean valued family above all and felt blessed to spend her final years close to both her children. In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her parents and her only sibling, brother Grant Garrison Donaldson. She is survived by daughter Lee and son-in-law Kevin Peterman of Baytown; son William Ted and daughter-in-law Cathleen; grandchildren Caroline and Austin; and her close friend and longtime caregiver, Sherry Alfred.

Jean's wishes were to be cremated and her ashes scattered in Galveston Bay, as were her husband's.