Barnard, Vermont

A Woman Who Made Significant Changes Occur

Jean was born September 25, 1934, the first daughter of Donald and Francis Callahan and granddaughter of L.B. Corbett, the first inventor of IBM. She was brought up in Binghamton, New York and was even a SUPER SENIOR in high school. She received her B.A. in Psychology/Education from Emerson College and her Masters at Boston University in Adult Educational and Organizational Development.

In the 1960's, when Jean lived in Massachusetts, she was the first woman elected to the Board of Directors for the Boston area's largest vocational technical school, Blue Hills Regional Vocational Technical High School. The men on the Board had planned that female students could only go to Beauty Culture and Secretarial Programs. Jean convinced them that girls and women could do a good job in any program. And the girls did.

In the 1970's, when Jean lived in West Hartford, CT, she was educational chair of the League of Women Voters. The state contacted the League to see if they had someone who could design a program that state visitors could participate in that would enable them to understand how decisions were made by the Congress and the Senate. It worked. Jean designed, developed, and recruited docen staff that she trained and managed in her award-winning effort honored by the State of Connecticut Legislature.

Her professional career began when Jean moved to Massachusetts. As the Manager of Training and Development at New England Medical Center, Jean created first-of-a-kind training and development programs involving all hospital staff and clinicians using physicians as lead instructors. This effort won Jean national praise from the Society for Training and Development as well as regular recognition from hospital administration. When Jean was a Manager of Training and Development at the Bank of Boston, she developed the strategy to attack and end Money Laundering efforts. Jean set-up a bilingual program and the federal government was very pleased. She was also instrumental in implementing the Merger and Acquisition strategy rolled out by the Bank of Boston, New England Group as it enlarged its presence in the late 1970's.

In retirement, Jean founded and ran WESAW, the Winter Educational Series at Woodstock, creating or managing more than 60 courses which she developed and taught.

Jean is survived by her husband, John, sister, Audrey Thomas of Vancouver, B.C., her three children, Michael, Kathleen and Timothy and her two step daughters Julie and Kate, three grandchildren: Parker, Jim and Kelly, and three nieces Claire Thomas Chan, Sarah McCabe, and Vicki Thomas.

A memorial visitation will be held on Wednesday evening August 8th from 5 to 7 pm at the Cabot Funeral Home in Woodstock, Vermont. A memorial service is being planned for early September.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Visiting Nurse Association of Vermont and New Hampshire or the Vermont Institute of Natural Science, or the ALS Association of Northern New England.

Arrangements are under the drirection of the Cabot Funeral Hme in Woodstock, Vermont. Condolences may be offered by visiting cabotfh.com