October Senior of the Month is Jean Mears
Jean Mears, 81 years old, is the October Senior of the Month at Newcastle Senior Citizens Center.
She was born in Purcell and spent most of her growing up years in Midwest City where she graduated high school. She moved to Newcastle from Meeker with her late husband, Ronnie Mears, in 2019. He passed away three years ago.
After graduation, she worked at the White Crown Café in Midwest City for 50 cents an hour.
She said, “My goodness, how things have changed.”
Jean and Ronnie raised three children, two sons and one daughter and now have six grandchildren and almost eight great-grandchildren. They moved to Newcastle to be near one of their sons.
A favorite memory for her is cooking dinner with her mama, especially at Christmas time. Her parents were the biggest influence in her life. She also has fond memories of traveling around to exciting places with her brother and sister-in-law. One very special time was a trip to the Rose Bowl to see the University of Oklahoma play.
She said the worst trouble she ever got into, was getting caught sneaking out to meet a boy for a date. That didn’t happen again.
She worked at OU Medical Center as a medical tech for 30 years, retiring in 2012.
Jean’s special interests are being a caretaker, visiting friends, watching grandchildren in their sports, watching OU football and softball, and watching Thunder basketball.
One of her favorite things to do is spend time helping at the Senior Center, delivering meals to shut-ins.
She is thankful that she has family nearby and many new special friends. She says Newcastle is a friendly place to live.
In her opinion, the key to a long life is having faith in the Lord and being with family. She hopes future generations remember how she loved people and loved to laugh.
