November 1932 – December 12, 2022
Dorothy “Jean” Scheibe, beloved wife of Murray (1932-2019), devoted mother to Benjamin (Kathy Hall), Leah (Will Hollifield), and Rachel (1962-2018). Jean passed suddenly on December 12, just weeks after celebrating her 90th birthday in Mendocino with family.
Jean graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree from William and Mary in 1954. In her senior year, she met Murray, a graduate student in physics at the University of Maryland. Jean thought Murray was cute but what really attracted her was his intellect. She once said she married him because he was the only man she had met who was smarter than she was. They married in 1955, and had Ben nine months and 2 days after the wedding, as she noted more than once to her daughters. The couple soon moved to the west coast (the Bay Area), with Leah and Rachel joining the family in later years. Friends teased that they really were following the New York Giants, Murray’s team (and Jean’s adopted team as the Senators weren’t very good), to San Francisco. The family moved to Santa Barbara in 1971. After the children reached appropriate age, Jean rejoined the workforce, working as an employment counselor for a private agency and then at the state’s Employment Development Department. She used her earnings to help fund the couple’s love of travel, including to such exotic locales as the Middle East, southeast Asia, Nepal, and Tibet, as well as most countries in Europe. While in town, the couple were avid patrons of the arts, sharing seasons at the symphony and playhouse, and making annual trips to the Pismo Jazz Jubilee. Jean was active in the community, donating time to Recording for the Blind (making good use of her, lovely, mellifluous voice) and working for many years as a docent and tour guide at the Santa Barbara Courthouse.
Elegant and worldly, Jean was a sought – after addition to any social gathering. With her keen, sardonic wit, she was referred to on more than one occasion by her children’s friends and colleagues, as well as others, as a “pistol” or “firecracker.” Nor was she ready to go even at 90. Right up to the end, her insatiable joie de vivre had her planning her post-pandemic return to guiding Courthouse tours, booking her room in Pismo for the 2023 Jazz Jubilee, and seeing which cruise she might want to take next. Sadly, she was taken by a fast moving infection before her plans for embarking on her tenth decade could come to fruition. It is clichŽ to say that one was beloved by all but with Jean the outpouring of grief from all the people she touched has been astounding. Everyone is devastated by her passing. Vital, Vibrant, and Vivacious are the words almost all used to describe her.
Survived by Ben, Leah, and brother David Carlson (Toni), Jean was preceded in death by Murray at age 87, and daughter Rachel, a loss from which she never truly recovered. Jean’s ashes will be released to the sea together with Murray’s, together forever. A celebration of her life will be held in the new year. In lieu of flowers, friends are asked to consider a donation to ASAP, the Santa Barbara Courthouse Legacy Foundation, or Planned Parenthood.
We miss you so much Mom. You were our foundation.
