Funeral Details

Jean S. Gottlieb, a native of Chicago, an historian and researcher, a "Rosie the Riveter" during World War II, a polio survivor, a fisherwoman, memoirist, and a mother of six, grandmother of 12, and great-grandmother of 15, died age 100.

Jean was the second child of Oscar and Anne Stern. She graduated from the Francis W. Parker School in 1941 and matriculated at Scripps College, but left to marry the love of her life, Harry Gottlieb, then an officer candidate in the U.S. Signal Corps, in May of 1942. While a war bride, Jean worked in a machine shop that produced small aircraft parts for the war effort. She would remain married to Harry for 73 years, until he passed away shortly after Jean's 92nd birthday in 2015.

During World War II, Harry was sent overseas, serving as an adjutant in the Signal Corps, primarily in New Guinea, until his honorable discharge in 1945. The death of Harry's beloved younger brother, Alan, in the war, influenced the couple's decision to have a large family. In 1946, the couple's eldest child, Annie Gottlieb, was born. Sara, Martha, Janet, Alan, and David were born over the next 13 years, shortly after which Jean resumed her college education at Mundelein College, now part of Loyola University. She went on to complete a Master of Arts and a PhD in English Literature at the University of Chicago, working thereafter as a bookbinder, researcher, bibliographer, and writer.

During her pregnancy with Janet, Jean was diagnosed with polio. She survived with some damage to the muscles of her left leg (and no damage to Janet). Doctors advised Jean to go to a warm climate and walk as much as possible. The Gottliebs discovered Ft. Myers Beach, Florida, and bought a beach cottage there in 1955. The cottage and the beach would be a second home for the family for the next 60 years.

In the early 1990s, Jean and Harry made Ft. Myers their official residence. They spent more than two decades fishing, walking the beach, and welcoming visitors, returning to spend summers in Chicago. Jean delved into researching family history and published the multigenerational story of her and Harry’s families in Braided Generations: The Living, the Lost, and the Power of Belonging (WingSpan Press, 2022).

As her sight, hearing, and memory diminished in her later 90s, Jean was increasingly limited in her ability to engage in her favorite activities: reading, writing, painting, drawing, and philosophizing about the state of the world. Always spirited and opinionated, and always fond of being surrounded by people, Jean nonetheless weathered these challenges thanks to the loving attention of her six children, and her many friends and extended family members.

Service Wednesday, 1PM at Chicago Jewish Funerals, 8851 Skokie Blvd (at Niles Center Road), Skokie. Interment Rosehill. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Newberry Library, 60 W Walton St, Chicago, IL 60610, www.newberry.org or Jewish National Fund, 60 Revere Dr # 725, Northbrook, IL 60062, www.jnf.org. To attend the funeral live stream, please visit our website. Arrangements by Chicago Jewish Funerals - Skokie Chapel, 847.229.8822, www.cjfinfo.com