Jean Smith
June 22, 1929 – May 14, 2025

Mary Jean Heavener Smith, known to all as Jean, passed away on May 14, 2025, at the age of 95, at Paoli Hospital in Pennsylvania due to heart failure. A longtime resident of Woodbury and Millville, New Jersey, Jean had most recently lived at Bellingham Senior Living in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Born on June 22, 1929, Jean was a child of the Great Depression. Her father, Herbert Heavener, died when she was just three years old. Her mother, Mary Anna (Schong) Heavener, worked multiple jobs and was unable to care for Jean and her older sister, Kathryn, at home. The girls spent their formative years in boarding schools, most notably the Charles E. Ellis School in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania — a school dedicated at the time to girls who had lost their fathers.

Far from the gloomy depictions of boarding schools in literature, Jean treasured her time at Ellis and graduated at the young age of 15. Misrepresenting her age, she entered the workforce, joining the Atlantic Refining Company (later ARCO, now a division of BP Amoco) in Philadelphia.

It was there, while substituting on a company bowling team — despite admitting she was a poor bowler — that she met the love of her life, Harry Clay Smith. They married in 1955 and shared a joyful, devoted marriage until Harry's passing from pancreatic cancer in 2007. Together they raised two sons and built a life first in Woodbury, and later in Harry's hometown of Millville, where he was known as Bud Smith and where they relocated in the late 1980s.

In the mid-1960s, Jean returned to full-time work, first as a teacher's aide at Woodbury Friends School and later as a school secretary at Friends School Mullica Hill. She had a special gift for connecting with "square pegs" and "naughty" children, helping them find their value and best selves through her gentle guidance and genuine care. Many of those former students remained her friends for life.

Jean was predeceased by her parents, her beloved husband Harry, and her sister Kathryn. She is survived by her sons, David Mayhew (Michael Stotts) of Glastonbury, Connecticut, and Thomas Smith (Alan Langdon) of Sacramento, California; her niece, Barbara Ross of Avondale, Pennsylvania; her nephew, Ronald Stepp of Hatboro, Pennsylvania; and many other nieces, nephews, and dear friends — many of whom lovingly knew her as "Aunt Jean."

Calling hours will be held on Monday, May 19, from 6:00pm to 8:00pm at Barr Funeral Home, 2104 East Main Street in Millville, New Jersey.  Interment at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Millville will follow at a later date. In lieu of flowers donations may be made in her name to Friends School Mullica Hill, 15 High Street, Mullica Hill, NJ 08062, https://www.friendsmh.org/support-fsmh/online-giving/.