Maurine Hean
1927 - 2020
Obituary
Maurine Siemens Hean passed away on Jan. 23, 2020, at Kidron
Bethel Village in North Newton. She was born Feb. 22, 1927, in Newton, to Jacob
and Anna Enns Siemens. She attended Newton public schools and graduated from
Bethel College in 1949 with a B.S. degree in Home Economics.
While at Bethel College, Maurine met James Robert Hean (Jim)
from Philadelphia and they married on Sept. 1, 1950, at Bethel College
Mennonite Church (BCMC) before moving to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where Jim had
received a fellowship for graduate study at the University of Michigan. There,
Maurine worked as a resident hall dietician.
By 1963, Maurine and Jim settled in Camp Springs, Maryland,
with their four children and joined the local Presbyterian Church. Jim was
deacon and elder, and Maurine sang in the church choir and joined the women's
circle. They were both active in the Meals on Wheels program in Prince George's
County, Maryland, for over 20 years.
Maurine was also a substitute teacher at local junior high
and high schools. She loved to sew and cook, and her hobbies included making
beautiful dresses, doll clothes, curtains and linens for her family.
After their children were grown and Jim retired, they moved
back to Newton in 1991 to be near family and old friends and rejoin BCMC.
Maurine volunteered with the Church Women United and the Newton Mid-Kansas
Symphony Orchestra. Jim developed health problems and died in January 1996.
Maurine loved her family, church and the North Newton
community and will be remembered as a steadfast wife, mother and loving sister,
aunt and grandmother.
Surviving Maurine are her children: Fred Hean (Claire
Frances) of Charlottesville, Virginia, Susanne Gardner (Nelson) of Edgewater,
Maryland, Chuck Hean (Heidi Close) of West Des Moines, Iowa, and David Hean of
Silver Spring, Maryland; along with six grandchildren; and two
great-granddaughters. Also surviving are her two brothers, Richard Siemens (Frances)
of North Newton and Robert Siemens (Bonita) of Lenexa; and many cousins,
nieces, nephews and friends.
The Hean and Gardner families would like to thank everyone
for their kindness and thoughtfulness during Maurine's last years at Kidron
Bethel Village.
A celebration of life service is planned for 11 a.m. March
14, 2020, at Bethel College Mennonite Church. Interment will be at the BCMC
Columbarium.
Memorial contributions may be made to the BCMC in North
Newton.
