Jean Michaels Slocum
March 21, 1932-April 29, 2014
Palo Alto, California

Jean Michaels Slocum, 82, a longtime Palo Alto resident, died peacefully with her three children and daughter-in-law by her side at Stanford Hospital on April 29, 2014.

Born in Kansas City, Missouri to Eldon (Pat) and Gertrude Edwards Michaels, Jean was a daring rascal who loved sports and the outdoors. She attended William Woods College and then graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Physical Education from Kansas University. She earned a master's degree in Physical Education at Stanford University, where she met Richard (Dick) Slocum, her future husband of 25 years. Upon graduation, Jean taught physical education at Hayward High School before dedicating herself to family life.

Jean was very involved in the community. In the 1960s, she spearheaded a Walter Hays School Parent Teacher Organization newspaper collection drive that ultimately contributed to the creation of the city's recycling center. Jean also helped organize the Oregon Expressway referendum, which transformed a freeway-style plan, lined with chain-linked fences and only two crossings, to today's green-belted expressway with frontage roads for better neighborhood safety and integration. Jean was one of the first women to run for City Council and remained involved in local politics for many years, supporting others' campaigns such as Roy Clay, Palo Alto's first African-American Vice Mayor in the 1970s. Later she helped elect her daughter, Gail, who became Mayor of Menlo Park in 1993. Jean was also involved in the American Association of University Women.

Jean maintained a passion for sports her whole life. She played five sports including field hockey in college, golfed well into her adult life, and enjoyed watching and boisterously cheering at sporting events of all kinds. She was very involved in her children's youth sports, helping found the Palo Alto girls' ("Bobbysox") softball league. She also acted as coach of many AYSO soccer teams and the Jordan Junior High varsity girls' soccer team. Many of the girls she coached went on to play soccer or other sports in college.

Jean's personal pursuits were many and diverse. She was an ingenious cook, making out-of-the-ordinary dishes like sukiyaki, Welsh rarebit and baked Alaska. She had intuitive cooking talent, measuring ingredients in the palm of her hand and sensing what a recipe needed based upon taste. She was also an avid gardener, cultivating many beautiful plants and flowers, especially the scores of beloved heirloom roses growing at the Lucie Stern estate, the Slocum family's former residence on 1990 Cowper St. Jean loved nature, visiting many national parks throughout her life. Her favorite was Yosemite where she had worked as a waitress at the Ahwahnee Hotel in the 1950s. She also loved spending childhood summers at camp in Rocky Mountain National Park. A lifelong lover of fine art, music and theater, she put on an exhibit of her own photography and paintings at the Sheridan Apartments in her 70s.

After her children left home, Jean worked for Union Bank before going back to school in her late 50s to become certified in early childhood education. She taught at the German-American International School and several preschools, and worked as a nanny before retiring.

Jean will best be remembered for her infectious laughter, her relentlessly positive "can do" attitude, and her fun-loving, feisty and indomitable free-spirit. A devoted mother and steadfast friend, she lived with her kind and generous heart wide open. A natural community builder, Jean easily forged friendships and connections with people of all walks of life, wherever she went. In her senior years, she organized many lively social groups and activities at Sheridan Apartments. She had recently moved into Lytton Gardens Assisted Living, which she had fortuitously supported when it was proposed in the late 1960s.

Among those left to cherish her memory are daughter Gail Slocum, her husband Jordan Gruber and their daughter Diana Gruber of Menlo Park; son Ralph Slocum, his wife Anne and their children Alyssa, Michael, Randy and Grace of San Luis Obispo, California; daughter Nancy Slocum, her wife Kathy Hagerstrom and their daughter Lucy Slocum of Wayland, Massachusetts; sister Patricia (Pat) Kehde and her husband Ned of Lawrence, Kansas; former husband Dick Slocum and his wife Hannah of Mountain View; and many other treasured relatives and friends.

Tags: teacher/educator, sports, public service