JEAN COLFELT

COLFELT--Jean Beggs, 97, of Gladwyne, PA, died peacefully Saturday, August 24, 2013. Born at home on Berkeley Road, Merion, PA, in 1916, Jean Todd Beggs was daughter to Hilda Farr and Robert A. Beggs Jr., he being a businessman and alumnus of University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and Penn Law. The youngest of three sisters, Jean and her siblings shared a joyful childhood together, made memorable by time spent with adoring grandparents on both sides, including the Hon. John R. Farr, Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and later a United States Congressman from the Pennsylvania's 10th District. Jean recalled, as an independent young woman, driving her Model "A" Ford down Montgomery Avenue to Miss Wright's School in Bryn Mawr, and then navigating further the long route to brand new Bennington College, where she was in the pioneering Class of 1937. In 1939, she was married to Herbert P. Colfelt Jr., of New York and Haverford, an aeronautical engineer with Piasecki/BoeingVertol. The couple had met at a dance, when Mr. Colfelt was a student at The Haverford School. They would settle in central Philadelphia's English Village near Rittenhouse Square, where for over 65 years, Mrs. Colfelt lived, and thrived on life in the City. From Philadelphia Orchestra matinees and New Year's concerts, to marriage and raising a son within steps of science and art museums, to purposeful errands at Wanamaker's or Stawbridge's, she gave up the car and took pride in walking everywhere she went. A devoted mother herself, Jean cared for her mother through multiple sclerosis and then for husband Herbert during cancer, until his death in 1987. Mrs. Colfelt spent her later years in happy enjoyment at Waverly Heights, in Gladwyne. Predeceased by sisters Louise Beggs Stern, an actress, and Bette Beggs Ashford, a painter. Jean Beggs Colfelt is survived in her immediate family by a son Todd (Gail) and grandson Craig (Michael Andrews). In lieu of flowers, charitable contributions in Jean's memory can be made to Bennington College, Office of External Relations, One College Drive, Bennington, VT 05201 (www.bennington.edu/Alumni/ Support/WaysGive.aspx), or to the Waverly Heights Employee Appreciation Fund, c/o David Farling, 1400 Waverly Rd., Gladwyne, PA 19035. Graveside service on Tuesday, August 27, 1pm, West Laurel Hill Cemetery, 225 Belmont Ave., Bala Cynwyd, PA. Services by Bringhurst Funeral Home, Inc. www.forever-care.com