Jean V.C. Douglas

Jean Van Curen Douglas, of 58 Kay Street, Newport, RI, was born November 29, 1922, in St. Clairsville, Ohio, only child of Dale and Frieda Van Curen. Jean studied art at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, for two years before moving to New York City at age 20. She attended Katherine Gibbs Secretarial School and began working at J. Walter Thompson Agency in radio advertising. In 1945, Jean left NYC for a stint with the Red Cross in Germany, eventually working for the U.S. Department of State in Hamburg, Germany. There she met and married Archibald Hugh Douglas, Jr., beginning a life in the Foreign Service that spanned 30 years. Their assignments included duty in: Newfoundland, Canada; Glasgow, Scotland; Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Istanbul, Turkey; Saigon, Vietnam from which they were evacuated to the Philippines; Barcelona, Spain; and Caracas, Venezuela, with several tours in Washington, D.C., as well. Jean became an expert in international moves, finding homes for her family, helping the children make transitions from school to school, and furthering Hugh?s career in her role as a gracious and involved hostess and spouse. At each assignment, Jean was active in the Women?s Club, PTA groups, and gardening clubs. After Hugh?s retirement from the State Department in 1977, the Douglases split their time between Washington, D.C. and Newport, Rhode Island, settling permanently in Newport in 1998. Always ahead of her time, eager for the next adventure, Jean was an artist, gardener, cook, superb friend, parent, and grandmother, with a keen eye for fashion. She was a member of the Newport Garden Club, Newport, Newport Country Club, and Spouting Rock Beach Association. Jean is predeceased by her husband, Hugh, and her daughter Patricia; surviving are children Sandra Douglas, A. Hugh Eileen Douglas, and Stephen Juliet Douglas, and grandchildren Molly, Sam and James, who loved her dearly. Donations can be made to the Robert Potter League for Animals, PO Box 412, Newport, RI, 02840 and Visiting Nurse/Hospice of Newport and Bristol Counties, 1184 East Main Road, Portsmouth, RI, 02871.