Jean M. Phinney

Jean Memmott Phinney was born in 1939 in Springfield, MA, the only child of George W. Memmott, a journalist, and Marcia Memmott, a career woman who would later become the president of the Boston chapter of the League of Women Voters. At the age of nine, Jean moved to Beverly, MA where she attended elementary school at the Old Cove School and made many life long friends. They called themselves the “Cove Kids” and they were like family. Jean graduated from Beverly High School in the Class of 1956 and attended Pembroke College, the women’s college of Brown University. There she met her first husband, John V. Sauter. They married in 1959 and had their first child, Cheryl Ann Sauter in 1960. The family lived in New York and welcomed their second child Karen Elizabeth in 1964. In 1966, Jean was a contestant on Jeopardy, coming in second place. In 1968, she divorced and moved back to her hometown of Beverly where she lived until the final year of her life, during which she was cared for at Atrium Veronica Drive in Danvers, MA. Jean was known as an extremely intelligent person, widely read, and self-described “Jack of all trades but master of none.” Jean was an avid reader, a historian and student of politics, and she passed these interests on to her daughter Karen. An avowed “Women’s Libber”, Jean was an incredibly hard worker who raised her family as a strong and independent single mom. She was a real estate agent at the Barbara Goldberg Real Estate Agency and then worked for many years at Bostik, a Division of USM in Middleton, retiring after many years, serving as the executive assistant of the company President. Jean was married to Jack Phinney in 1990. Jack taught her to golf which became a passion. She was a proud member of the” Lakeview Ladies” and the Wenham Country Club. She enjoyed traveling in Europe and taking cruises throughout the Caribbean with her dear friends. Her closest, life long friends include Jane McCarthy, Selma Kransberg Stokes, Deborah Wetmore, Barbara Flint Meyer and the late Sandra Hinckley Oliver. Jean leaves two daughters, Cheryl Ann, and her husband David Ubel of Staten Island, NY, Karen Elizabeth and her husband Gus Gomes of Beverly, her grandchildren Jessica Gomes of Houston, TX, George Gomes and his wife Brittany of Beverly, and many friends. Jean was a wonderful and very proud Nana to both of her grandchildren, attending many band concerts, recitals, and competitions. Funeral services will be private. Arrangements by the Campbell Funeral Home 525 Cabot Street, Beverly. Donations in her honor may be made to Merrimack Valley Hospice. Information, directions, condolences at www.campbellfuneral.com