Jean Dilworth

Jean Kotter Dilworth, 84, of Waxhaw, N.C., passed away Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022, at Atrium Health Union in Monroe, N.C.

She was born June 21, 1938, in Huntsville, Ill., to the late Bryon E. Kotter and the late Hazel V. Thompson.

She is survived by brother, Lloyd Kotter; sister and brother-in-law, Donna and Larry Geer; son and daughter-in-law, Dr. Doug Dilworth and Lisa Gerdon-Dilworth; and daughter and son-in-law, Sondra and Chad Brown. She is also survived by her two granddaughters, Carter Gerdon and Charlee Dilworth; and many family and friends throughout the country.

Jean attended Blackburn College, transferring and graduating from University of Illinois - Champaign in 1961. She ran her own retail fabric business, Nifty Fabrics in Adair, Ill., from 1968 through 1980. Jean obtained her master of fine arts in costume design from Western Illinois University in 1985. She was especially proud to join the ranks of university educators at North Carolina Central University in Durham, N.C., in 1988. She continued to become a tenured professor at Eastern Illinois University teaching from 1988 until her retirement in 2010. She was a life-long learner and teacher.

She loved spending time with her family and adding plants to her yard that attracted birds. She especially enjoyed the time she could spend baking with her granddaughters. She was a passionate advocate for her family, students and causes she believed in and she was always ready to help anyone with plant questions. Her light shined bright for all those who had the privilege to spend time with her.

The North Carolina celebration of life service will be 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 18, at Hartsell Funeral Home, 13575 Broadway Ave., Midland, N.C. The family will receive friends following the service from 3 to 5 p.m.

The Illinois celebration of life service will be 9 am. Saturday, Oct. 1, at Triplett and Wood Funeral Home, 900 W. Wilson St., Rushville, Ill. The family will receive friends following the service from 10 a.m. to noon.

Private family burial will follow the visitation at 2 p.m. at Pennington Point Cemetery in Adair, Ill.

Memorials may be made to Blackburn College, The Blackburn Fund at https://blackburn.edu/give/make-a-gift.

Hartsell Funeral Home of Midland is serving the Dilworth family in North Carolina and Triplett and Wood Funeral Home is serving the family in Illinois.

Online condolences may be made at www.hartsellfh.com and www.triplettfuneralhomes.com.