The following biography is authored by Jean Rawlinson's youngest daughter, Pamela Jean Pohly:
Jean Winifred was born in Delaware, in a small town outside of Dover in 1922. She lived there as a baby. Later, in the mid 1920s, Jean's mother moved the family, without their father, to Virginia to live with her mother's Aunt Maggie Young, or Jean's great Aunt Maggie Mater Young. Aunt Maggie's husband Bill Young had deceased. Jean's mother, Nora, taught rural school in Virginia, while Jean also attended elementary school in the area. After a few years, in the 1930s, Jean's mother moved most of her family to Michigan. In the late 1930s, while Jean was still a young teenager, she and her sister Mary returned to live with their sister Margaret Rawlinson Svoboda in Virginia. Jean later graduated from highschool in Kalamazoo Michigan. After high school, Jean attended college in Kalamazoo. It was there that she met Paul Theodore Pohly, around 1940-1941. In 1941, she left to live in Richmond Virginia to attend nursing school at the Medical College of Virginia. In 1942, having to obtain special permission from the college in order to do so, Jean was married to Paul in Richmond. Margaret Rawlinson Svoboda, her sister, gave her away at the ceremony that was held on a Sunday afternoon, December 6th, at the Broad Street Church. Her sister and brother-in-law, Georgian Rawlinson Tashjian and David Tashjian were also present. The wedding reception was held in Memorial Hall on the college campus. Jean graduated from nursing school during the war.
Paul served overseas for the Navy and was also stationed at Fort Pierce in Florida through June of 1944. His ships include the U.S.S. Relief. Paul was honorably discharged from the service in 1945, after he learned that Jean was pregnant and after WWII was ended. The young couple moved to Angola Indiana, where Paul worked and attended college and Jean started their family, with the birth of Susan in February of 1946. The little family lived in a small, but modern, trailer home in Angola. Paul was graduated from college in 1947 and the young family moved to Garrett, Indiana, where their second child Richard was born in 1947. They returned to Angola in 1948, where Paul established his own insurance and real estate office in a small wooden building.
In 1948, the young family took a trip to San Antonio, Texas where Paul attended an insurance conference. By the winter of 1948, the young family rented a house in Angola. This year was a year for moving as Paul attempted to establish his regional insurance business accounts. The family moved to Lafayette, Indiana in August of 1949, then, to Walton, Indiana, and then, to New Richmond, Indiana. The house they rented in Walton Indiana was a brand new brick home. By 1950, the family had moved back to Lafayette and rented a wood sided house at 1413 South Fifth Street. In Lafayette, Jean gave birth to her 3rd child in 1950, Christopher. Between 1950 and 1953, the family of five moved around in a mobile home, This was a new, modern home with built-ins, including a built in television. They went first to Columbus, Ohio, then on to East Lansing, Michigan, and to Ann Arbor, Michigan. Paul was working to establish insurance accounts and Jean wanted the family to all go together. They moved the trailer to Texas where they moved to Dallas, Denton, Austin, College Station and Houston. By 1953, they took the trailer back to Indiana, and Jean gave birth to her 4th child, Pam, in June of 1953.
Having enjoyed their trip to Texas in the trailer, after Pam was born, Paul and Jean decided to move to Texas permanently. So, in August of 1953, they moved to Austin, Texas, where they rented a home on Arthur Lane. By 1954, the family was on the go again, and, decided to move to Dallas. In September 1954, the family rented a home on Ridge Road in northwest Dallas. The family remained in the Ridge Road house until the summer of 1955, when they purchased a home at 7736 Idlewood Lane, in north Dallas.
Jean worked as a Registered Nurse at several hospitals in the Dallas area, off and on, including Parkland Hospital, Presbyterian Hospital and Richardson General. At the latter hospital, she assumed a management role, where she managed a large staff of nurses. Jean enjoyed living on Idlewood. She and Paul entertained guests and held parties for her children's birthdays, her husband's clients and her family when they visited. Paul and Jean traveled to many places together, including Hawaii, Mexico, Canada, Florida, Maine, Michigan, California and New York City. Jean enjoyed raising her children, making her home lovely and warm, and growing flowers and plants in her garden. One pastime of particular enjoyment to Jean and Paul was their frequent camping trips to Lake Dallas. They owned a pontoon boat, which they anchored in the lake at night. They both enjoyed the peacefulness and companionship of spending those times together. After their deaths, three of Jean's children (Pam, Richard and Chris) sprinkled Jean's and Paul's ashes in a cove in Lake Dallas where Jean and Paul had enjoyed spending the night.
Jean died young in 1981, at the age of 59, leaving behind her children, then ages 28 through 35. Her husband, Paul, died 7 months after Jean. Jean will be remembered as a loving mother and sister by her survivors. She was a selfless person, who spent much of her life putting the needs of her husband and her children above her own needs. She was a fun loving, caring, courageous, sometimes strong-willed and generous woman who died long before her family were ready to lose her.
---------. Jean Winifred Rawlinson was educated in Virginia College of Medicine in 1944 B.S. in Nursing.
1 She was a Registered Nurse between 1944 and 1980.
1