Jean Margaret Scott Polk

Born January 26, 1924 in Sewickley, PA, Jean was the only child of Elmer A. Scott and Margaret Barbara Stacel. In her youth, she studied voice, and sang at many western Pennsylvania events and on the radio stations in Pittsburgh.

She graduated in 1941 from Leetsdale High School, where she had been a cheerleader, editor of the weekly school newspaper, National Honors student, and a National Thespian in the casts of the school plays. She then went to work in the local business office of Bell of Pennsylvania which became Bell Atlantic and later, Verizon.

She retired after marriage to Norman D. Polk, her childhood sweetheart, on August 11, 1945, when he returned from the service. They raised a family of three sons. Jean was a Sunday school teacher, Cub Scout den mother, Women's Club president, and occasionally wrote feature columns for the local newspapers. She was a part of the earliest distribution of Salk's vaccination for polio in the Sewickley schools.

After the death of her father in 1963, her mother came to live with them and Jean returned to work at Bell Telephone. She held various managerial positions until her retirement in 1985.

In that same year, she and her husband wintered in Florida and joined Rio Pinar Country Club. They loved it so much they moved permanently within a year to Orlando where they enjoyed playing golf and swimming and Jean could play bridge. She resumed her education at Valencia College where she was proud to make the President's List. She researched her ancestry and compiled a genealogical report and this was one of her favorite projects. They joined St. Stephen Presbyterian Church where Norman was ordained an elder, and Jean a deacon. They later became members of Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church.

Jean loved music and has been involved in some way since the age of nine. She particularly loved classics and opera. She liked most kinds of music except nasal cowboy songs and rock. For most of her adult life she held season tickets, first with the Pittsburgh Symphony and Opera; and then with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra Classics, Pops, Focus, and Summer Series, as well as Orlando Opera. She loved musicals, ballet, and the theatre.

She adored children, animals, parties and people. She liked lively political discussions, crossword puzzles, singing in a group, a good laugh, and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Her first computer was a Commodore 64 in 1980, and it was so simple that she could do her own programming. Her later computers were vehicles for varied projects, among which was the creation of original greeting cards for family and friends. She was a heavy texter on her iPhone.

Norman died on September 15, 2009, and in July of the following year, Jean and her car moved to Westminster Towers where she spent her last years. She loved to drive and was delighted whenever she could be "designated driver."

Jean died on September 2, 2021, at the age of 97-1/2 due to COVID pneumonia. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, and one granddaughter, Michele. She is survived by her sons, Bradley Polk (Darlene) of Bluffton, SC; Jeffrey Polk (Nancy), of The Woodlands, TX; and Thomas Polk (Beverly) of Merritt Island, FL; 6 grandchildren; and 15 great-grandchildren.

The cremains of Norman and Jean will be buried in the family plot in Sewickley, PA, on October 16, 2021. Donations may be made in Jean's memory to the Memorial Fund of Park Lake Presbyterian Church, 309 East Colonial Dr., Orlando, FL 32801.