Jeanne Margaret Gilman

Jeanne Margaret Gilman – Artist, Mother, Grandmother and friend – died Sunday, September 13, 2015 in South Haven, Michigan at the age of 85.

Jeanne’s accomplished life began in Chicago, January 31, 1930. She was the second child of the late Gertrude and Henry Schlacks. She was raised in Western Springs, Illinois with her late brother, Dick, and graduated from the University of Illinois in 1951. Jeanne was married in 1951 to the late Gordon R. Jones and they had three children. In 1959 she moved with her children to the Gull Lake area, and in 1963 she met and married Frank Gilman and his four children joined her three to become their seven. They were married 48 years until his death in 2011.

Jeanne’s love of art and watercolor painting brought her great joy. It brought wonderful friends into her life, travel to beautiful places to paint, and great wonder and appreciation of the simple beauty around her. Her last painting was done just months ago while teaching the technique to children visiting the retirement home where she had resided since last December. The South Haven Center for the Arts honored her this past spring with a showing of her work.

She is survived by her seven children – Dorothy Jones, Kathy (Mike) Johnson, Susan Row, Nancy Chandler, Mike Jones, Phoenix Gilman, Tom (Rebecca) Gilman; eight grandchildren – Laurie (Bryan) Luedecking, Eric (Rachel) Johnson, Nick (Andrea) DeKam, Jessie (Scott) Dersa, Ian Llamas, Katie Chandler, Charlie Chandler, Kayla Gilman and four great grandsons.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, November 7th from 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM at the South Haven Center for the Arts, 600 Phoenix Street, South Haven.

In lieu of flowers memorial donations can be made to the South Haven Center for the Arts, www.southhavenarts.org, or the Michigan Maritime Museum, MichiganMaritimeMuseum.org, both in South Haven.