Jean E. Wandel

Jean E. Wandel a resident of Piper Shores in Scarborough, Maine died peacefully on Tuesday, December 30, 2025, in Portland, Maine.

Jean was born on September 1,1937 to Joseph Edward and Winifred Finerty in Gary, Indiana. She was followed by the birth of her beloved sister, Kathleen, four years later.

Jean and Kathy grew up in Gary, Indiana and in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Their mother, Winnie, was a biology teacher and the catalyst who fostered a love of learning and the importance of education in the family. Their father, Joe, was the mayor of Gary, Indiana, during the Second World War. Joe instilled in his daughters the importance of civic pride, making a contribution and helping those neighbors who were less fortunate. Joe also inspired a love of sailing in Jean from their time on Lake Michigan, which continued throughout her life on boats, big and small. Jean and Kathy had an idyllic childhood that sparked their curiosity about the world, their desire to explore it firsthand and to make a difference in the lives of others.

Jean graduated from Cornell University in 1959 with a Bachelor of Science in English. Upon graduation, she married Donald F. Wandel. They raised three wonderful children, Cristine, Laura and David, in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. She and Don imbued a love of the outdoors amongst their children through family camping, sailing and canoe trips in the Ozarks, with pack trips in Montana with her sister, Kathy's three children and sailing with family and friends in the Caribbean Islands. These outdoor family adventures created a tight bond between the families and instilled a rugged, hearty nature in the children who today love being outdoors to hike, ski, cycle, sail, raft, ride horses/mules and to travel in the United States and abroad.

Jean was a lifelong learner and educator who relished teaching children be it her own, in public schools in Missouri, at the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf in Maine and across the world in Haiti, Jamaica, Belize, India, Kenya and in South Africa. Jean completed a master's degree in biology from Southeast Missouri University to teach and to tutor high school students in biology. Jean also served as a Special Education professor at LeMoyne College in New York where she taught promising undergraduates who wanted to pursue careers in teaching and education. Jean set a model for her students by completing her graduate studies at Teachers College, Columbia University and earning a Master of Arts and a Doctor of Education degree.

Jean had a special bond with newly arrived immigrants from Vietnam and Africa into the United States. She wanted them to be proficient in English to enable them to build productive lives for them and their children. She would always make time for her students, adults, adolescents and children, to ensure that they had the resources to master a new language, a new culture and a new environment to the best of their ability. This provided Jean with an extended family that she cherished in her heart.

Jean loved the beauty of Maine, sailing the coastal waterways, the craftsmanship of the Wooden Boat School, the smell of the pine forests, listening to a myriad of birdsong whilst padding on a pond, Monhegan Island, the Farnsworth Museum, Standard Bakery for a ham & cheese croissant, Handy Boatyard in Falmouth and for a stroll on Higgins Beach.

Jean was preceded in death by her husband, Donald. She is survived by her sister, Kathleen and her brother-in-law R. Samson Callender, The Villages, Florida; her daughters, Cristine (Jack), Golden, CO, Laura (Todd) Marionville, MO, and son David (Cindy) Silverthorne, CO

A funeral service will be held on Monday, January 26 at 11:00 AM at the Cathedral of Saint Luke's 143 State Street in Portland, Maine.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Jean's name to Saint Luke's Cathedral.