Jean Ann Baun
MARSHALL–Jean Ann Baun, age 91, of Marshall, Minn., peacefully departed this life in Panama City, Fla., on Saturday, Feb. 15. Jean was born in Youngstown, Ohio, on Aug. 20, 1933, to Robert and Louise Kling and was the oldest of their four children. She attended Ursuline High School in Youngstown, graduating in 1951. On Dec. 26, 1955, she married the love of her life, Richard A. Baun, in Youngstown at St. Dominic Catholic Church. This was the beginning of an incredible journey of love and commitment that encompassed her marriage and the raising and nurturing of three generations.
Jean was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She was the anchor and brilliant lodestar of a large, growing, and geographically widespread family. After a life of traveling, moving her family from one military posting to another, across the United States and in Europe, she settled in Marshall and made it her home, but she always remained a Youngstown girl at heart. In Marshall, she was a member of Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, and her Catholic faith was always of great importance and a central part of her life.
Jean enjoyed reading, researching family history, and playing online word games with family and friends, as well as an occasional glass of red wine and a nice piece of dark chocolate.
Until her last days she amazed everyone with her razor-sharp memory and thoughtful attention to detail. She was the family’s institutional memory, always remembering the birthdays and anniversaries of other family members and friends, as well as dates of important historical events. She was the backstop for the rest of us when our own memories failed, or when life’s distractions got in the way. With a pot of hot tea to share and a photo album to look through, she could tell vivid stories behind each and every picture or souvenir that she collected.
She possessed a wry and understated sense of humor that never failed to hit its mark. While Jean loved traveling and spending time with family, she also enjoyed quiet time alone at home. Until the end she lived an active and independent life, doing her own shopping, cooking for herself (and others, when she had visitors), and attending exercise classes at the local YMCA. Through it all, she managed to correspond daily with sisters and brothers, cousins, friends from high school and other walks of life, and of course her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, offering her love and encouragement, and wise advice that we all so deeply cherished. We miss her immensely.
Jean was preceded in death by her husband, Lt. Col. (U.S. Army, Ret.) Richard A. Baun and two brothers, Robert and Richard. She is survived by her sister Margie Ziemianski (Castle Rock, Colo.), sister-in-law Patricia Whitcomb (Chico, Calif.), and brother-in-law James Baun and his wife Judy (Albuquerque, N.M.), her six children and their spouses – Dr. Michael and Julia Baun (Valdosta, Ga,); Captain (U.S. Navy, Ret.) Lawrence and Lisa Baun (Norfolk, Va.); Robert and Mishelle Baun (Fort Collins, Colo.); Daniel and Linda Baun (Marshall, Minn.); Karen and Mark Kostohris (Mexico Beach, Fla.); and Peggy and Wally Granquist (Sturgeon Lake, Minn.) – as well as 14 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
A Funeral Mass is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Friday, March 14, at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Fort Collins, Colo. A Memorial Mass in Marshall is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 17th at the Campus Religious Center at Southwest Minnesota State University. A future burial service at the Calvary Cemetery in Youngstown, Ohio is pending. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you donate to the Richard A. and Jean A. Baun Memorial Scholarship at Southwest Minnesota State University. Donations can be made online at smsufoundation.org or mailed to: SMSU Foundation, 1501 State Street, Marshall, MN 56258 (Indicate “Baun Scholarship” on the memo line).