Jean H. Abbott April 3, 1922 March 19, 2014 Jean H. Abbott, 91, a resident of Rebersburg since 1943, passed from this life on March 19, 2014. Jean was born in Yarnell on April 3, 1922, a daughter of the late Harry S. and Frances Confer Haagen. On August 10, 1944, she married Harlan Edward Abbott who preceded her in death. They had five children. Their only daughter, Virginia Ruth, preceded them in death. Surviving are four sons, Dr. Harlan E. Abbott (Jean), of Reedsville, Jerome H. Abbott (Janice), of Loganton, John J. Abbott (Barbara), of Madisonburg and James M. Abbott (Jane), of Rebersburg; eight grandchildren, Brian Abbott (Teresa), of Garnet Valley, Suzanne Dubeck (Stephen), of Jonestown, Sharon E. Abbott, of Yardley, Jennifer Benner (Andrew), of Essex, Md., Jessalyn J. Terry (Dan), of Venice, Fla., Michelle Abbott, of Madisonburg, Sarah Abbott, of Rebersburg, and David Abbott, of Lynchburg, Va. Also surviving are eight great grandchildren and Jean's siblings, Jeanette Robinson of Waller, Texas, Shirley McCloskey, of Bellefonte, James J. Haagen, of Honolulu, Hawail and W. Vance Haagen, of Bellefonte. Jean attended public school in Yarnell. She was a 1938 graduate of Bellefonte High School. She also graduated from Lock Haven University and later attended Penn State University. While in college she was a member of the Kappa Delta Pi. Jean taught in the elementary and secondary schools of the Penns Valley Area for 28 years, retiring in 1985. She loved children and continued to work with them in retirement doing a great deal of private tutoring in science and mathematics. Her greatest interests, however, were in her church and its activities. She conducted after school Bible clubs for many years in the Rebersburg United Methodist Church as well as the Madisonburg United Methodist Church with help of the devoted members of the church. In recent years she helped with the Good News Club at the Rebersburg Elementary School under the sponsorship of Centre County Child Evangelism Fellowship. Jean was a member of the Madisonburg United Methodist Church where she taught Sunday School and was a Disciple student and teacher. She served in various departments of the church. Jean attended the Penns Valley Area Senior Citizens Association and occasionally taught Bible class there. Her greatest joys were her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, with whom she spent as much time as possible, especially following her retirement from teaching and the death of her husband. Jean enjoyed traveling, having journeyed across the U.S. from Washington to Arizona to Florida to New York to visit her sons who all served in the United States Military. She also traveled twice to Germany in 1980 and 1988, to the Republic of South Korea in 1989 and enjoyed a twelve day tour of Jerusalem and Egypt. A visitation for family and friends will be held at the Steven R. Neff Funeral Home on Sunday, March 23, 2014, from 4-6 p.m. Funeral services will be held at the Madisonburg United Methodist Church on Monday, March 24, 2014, at 11:00 a.m. with Rev. Valerie Delooze officiating. Jean will be laid to rest in Evangelical Cemetery in Rebersburg. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be given to the Madisonburg United Methodist Church, 175 Broad Street, Madisonburg, PA 16852 or to the Child Evangelism Fellowship of Centre County, 539 Jacksonville Road, Bellefonte PA 16823.


Published in Centre Daily Times on Mar. 21, 2014