Jean Conklin

August 27, 1927 - October 7, 2020

Laura Jean (Anderson) Conklin was born Aug. 27, 1927 in Dayton, Ohio, to Alma (Hashart) Anderson and Lester Anderson. She grew up in Dayton, Ohio; Paterson, New Jersey; and Cincinnati, Ohio. She graduated from Withrow High School, Cincinnati in 1946 and Dayton's Miami Valley Hospital School of Nursing in 1948. She married Earl Conklin in Richmond, Indiana, on Jan. 24, 1948, and they spent nearly 69 years together before his passing in January 2017. They had four children together Susan and Joe Goodrich of Free Soil, Jeff and Marilyn (Mosher) Conklin of Free Soil, Beki and Elliot Heffler of Winnetka, California, and Leigh Conklin of Oak Harbor, Washington. Jean and Earl moved to Michigan in 1975 and she worked as a nurse before becoming involved with sheep husbandry and spinning and weaving wool. Although she was a registered nurse in Michigan and Ohio, Jean's first love was always arts and crafts which included weaving, pottery and painting among others. She was a talented artisan and was always looking for new artistic challenges. She studied ceramics and fiber arts at length and evolved this knowledge into businesses enterprises. Her outgoing personality proved to be an essential asset to her business and personal relationships. If you met Jean, it wasn't very long until you had a conversation going about some common interest. She is survived by her children, as well as, grandchildren Jason Squires and Ben Squires, Joe Conklin, David Heffler, Matthew Heffler, Katie Eisenhower and Devon Clark and Olivia Kurr, as well as, 10 great-grandchildren. No service is scheduled at this time but a celebration of life will be held next summer.