Tribute Wall
Provide comfort for the family by sending flowers or planting a tree in memory of Jeanette Mattson.
Guaranteed hand delivery by a local florist
Loading...
B
Beth Peterson Wahlig lit a candle
Friday, May 8, 2020
//s3.amazonaws.com/skins.funeraltechweb.com/tribute-gestures/Candle.png
Jean was truly a remarkable person who was adventurous and creative in so many ways. Jean loved history and she had done a ton of research on her ancestors the Squiers and Coles who were some of the founding families of Elizabeth, Westfield, and Scotch Plains. The interesting part of life is how stories are told from generation to generation and my Dad and Jean who are third cousins knew some of the same things about their families even though they did not meet until later in life. Jean was always gracious to me and my two daughters, Emma and Jane. Emma for a couple of years drove Jean around Northern New Jersey doing day trips and taking her to parks and museums which she loved. I was fortunate to have spent many dinners with her at our house in New Providence, at Water & Wine Restaurant & Stage House Tavern. She was just fun to be with as she had many stories to tell. My one image of Jean is when she came to visit our lake cottage in Vermont with my Dad and at the age of 88, she was determined to swim out to our wooden float and just decided to plunge right into the lake. She surprised me and I had to jump in after her. She swam to the float but could not pull herself up and just laughed about the whole thing. Jean will be truly missed but her laughter and spirit will carry on in all of us.
P
Peter Price lit a candle
Thursday, May 7, 2020
//s3.amazonaws.com/skins.funeraltechweb.com/tribute-gestures/Candle3.png
Dear Lois and family. I will miss Jean. We had many great conversations over the years that I will keep with me. May you also be sustained with fond memories. Jean was definitely a treasure. Chad and I send you our deepest condolences at this sad time. Peter Price and Chad Reese, Plainfield, NJ
K
Keith uploaded photo(s)
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
/public-file/1619/Ultra/03872d47-0dae-4780-b60b-54504d9bda2f.jpg
/public-file/1620/Ultra/10a20ac9-16c5-4383-a2fc-d568966f40fc.jpg
/public-file/1621/Ultra/259e6129-46ac-491f-af86-c47daee568ac.jpg
/public-file/1622/Ultra/0f1f01ba-bdb0-4ba6-8270-9ad865a575b1.jpg
No matter how long in advance you expect it, losing one of your parents always unleashes a flood of emotions and memories. I have really fond recollections of her, and immense respect for how she lived her life.
My mom had a wide range of passions: literature, history, photography, politics, traveling, hiking, and even distance running for a time. She had boundless curiosity and enthusiasm that drove her pursuits, and sometimes drove the rest of us a little crazy in the process.
She and my late father bought a very unique historic house in Plainfield, NJ in the late 1970s. My mom grew up in that town for part of her childhood and used to pass the house on her way to school. She dreamt of someday living there, and did for the last 42 years of her life.
Even though I lived far from her since I was 18, we remained close through visits, letters, and phone calls. Most of the time I visited her in NJ, sometimes with my wife Krisna and our sons Nick and Andy. My mom also visited Krisna and I when we lived in California, Indonesia, and finally at our current home in Hawaii. She was always interested in how our kids were doing, and was proud to help finance her grandchildren's education.
My mom was a kaleidoscope of thoughts and emotions. She was incredibly brilliant and wise in many respects, but could also be a bit looney at times. Like all of us, she had her foibles, and she knew it. But she could laugh at herself as well. She also had an immense capacity for forgiveness.
Jean will be laid to rest on Thursday, May 7 next to my father, Norman Mattson who passed away in 2005. I think she led life to its fullest, and is a genuine inspiration to me and many others. I'm incredibly proud of her and so very glad that she was my mom. I'll miss her dearly.
K
Krisna Suryanata uploaded photo(s)
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
/public-file/1614/Ultra/28956abd-79a2-4870-a25f-87435f6d6b30.jpg
/public-file/1615/Ultra/cac97d24-a4f8-4ff2-8e34-05e474082487.jpg
/public-file/1616/Ultra/b422e80c-b0e3-47d8-a25a-6f9f5d07f809.jpg
/public-file/1617/Ultra/3c2f835b-24d7-4010-9198-816a7936d114.jpg
Jean visited Sweden in 2005. On the first day after arriving in Stockholm, she was thrilled to see a familiar Swedish character Pippi Longstocking. Later we visited the ancestral village of her mother in law Ottilia Johansdotter in Melstaby, on the island of Öland. Jean was a fun traveling companion and we thoroughly enjoyed a wonderful week checking out the places she had heard so much from her late mother in law. At Ottenby Naturum, the tallest lighthouse at the southern tip of the island, she climbed the ~200 steps up to reach the top where we posed for a picture. When I visited her in July 2019, she remembered our travel in vivid details.
N
Nick Mattson uploaded photo(s)
Tuesday, May 5, 2020
/public-file/1612/Ultra/008a5838-53a0-41af-acce-5d1a5b35db4d.jpg
My memory of Jean, who was my grandma, is tied with the days I spent as a kid in her house. The cats, the ferns, the old leather furniture. The Fern House was beautiful but full of quirks, much like its owner. The stairways were narrow and the floors creaked and the margins of rooms were filled with old books and newspaper clippings. All sorts of portraits, most of them taken by my grandma, adorned every wall. She was a true historian of this part of New Jersey, and when I listened to her stories I would invariably find that the oil painting on the wall was actually my great-great grandfather and that he was one of the founders of the neighboring town. For me I still remember how it felt to hear about my lineage, since I grew up in Hawaii without any extended family. I felt a sense of place that is hard to really put into words, but being in that house felt like home.
Even though my times visiting my grandma were relatively few and far between, she always made a lot of time to sit with me and hear about what I was up to in my life. She was always generous and even paid the cost of my school tuition without ever once mentioning it to me in person. I know she truly cared about me. She was thrilled when I did a Forest Service internship in high school, overjoyed when I brought a girlfriend over to meet her in college, and even stayed up late to greet me when I would take the train down from New York (where I was working a few years later) to spend the weekend.
She had famously strong opinions and quirks which were a constant source of family laughter, which I might add she encouraged. When we once visited around a decade and a half ago, there was a newspaper on the table featuring a picture of George W. Bush. The color around his face looked bleached, and when my dad asked about it she said she had spat on it. Her behavior was punctuated by little fits of nervous energy. She would raise her hands above her head and shake them. She famously never drove, but walked and biked everywhere well into her 80s. She was an interminable spirit and, though I lived far away, updates on her were a constant in my life.
I don't imagine that house will ever feel quite the same. I'm not sure I want to go back there, it wouldn't be the Fern House without grandma seated in her favorite armchair reading a newspaper. She is now a part of the family history she meticulously collected over the decades, which I know would make her happy. I will miss her, but I'm glad I knew her and glad to know I come from her. I should hope to live as long as her, to see as many things as she saw, to raise a family and love and be loved just like she was. She lived an amazing life and that is the thing that should be highlighted above all else. Rest in peace, grandma.
K
Keith Mattson uploaded photo(s)
Tuesday, May 5, 2020
/public-file/1608/Ultra/f2020cf6-f8ef-4666-b690-8ae3055b781a.jpg
Jean's college graduation picture. She returned to finish her college degree after raising four kids.
A
Annette Satkowski, MDTMA Board of Trustees uploaded photo(s)
Tuesday, May 5, 2020
/public-file/1607/Ultra/6ed63394-9ff1-41b5-8ede-7f0752042c51.jpg
Jean and her cousin DeWitt at one of the many Merchants and Drovers Tavern Museum dinner events they attended. At this event in 2018 Jean and DeWitt presented us with a lovely cake they had customized for this dinner. As our members know, Jean is a direct descendant of the Squier family that built this historic site in 1795. She has also been a generous donor and did so much for our community in historic preservation. We will miss her visits, our conversations and her kindness.
K
Keith Mattson uploaded photo(s)
Tuesday, May 5, 2020
/public-file/1606/Ultra/7c64b6fe-4094-4aa2-a20c-c1bb3ad5c695.jpg
Jean in Cuba, 2003. She travelled there with her daughter Joy and other friends.
N
Nancy Piwowar uploaded photo(s)
Tuesday, May 5, 2020
/public-file/1603/Ultra/07ca92bc-5cae-492e-a3d0-b294135ceed8.jpg
Jean and De Witt (Pete) at the birthday party for George Washington in 2016 at the Drake House Museum.
You contributed a lot of knowledge to all of us at the Drake House, and your spirit and your passion will remain there forever.
We will all miss you. Deepest sympathy to your family.
Nancy Piwowar
K
Keith Mattson uploaded photo(s)
Monday, May 4, 2020
/public-file/1602/Ultra/cb550a5f-838b-4bda-8267-d3471cee37cf.jpg
Jean and Norman as young parents, circa 1958. Kids (from left to right): Kenny, Joy, Keith, Lois
D
DeWitt Peterson uploaded photo(s)
Monday, May 4, 2020
/public-file/1601/Ultra/be35fbbe-89ba-4cf7-acf9-7efb224183f5.jpg
Cousins Jean Mattson and C. DeWitt (Pete) Peterson in Moorestown NJ.
D
DeWitt Peterson Posted May 5, 2020 at 11:20 AM
This is a photo taken the day Jean and I met in 2007, when she and her photographer friend came to see and photo the portraits of our great great grandparents, Mary Cole Squier and Job Squier, painted in c.1830. Jean and I liked to attend concerts, talks, parties, dinners and trips together. She liked to discuss the family history, politics, Ireland, general history. She had many talents and made friends wherever she went. I miss her greatly. Pete
K
Keith Mattson uploaded photo(s)
Monday, May 4, 2020
/public-file/1600/Ultra/67e06a22-5bd3-475a-8478-d4bd6a283c6f.jpg
Jean as a young adult.
K
Keith Mattson uploaded photo(s)
Monday, May 4, 2020
/public-file/1598/Ultra/39afa011-2e7e-4298-bd34-2075c853bbf1.jpg
/public-file/1599/Ultra/87306aaf-e58e-4f3b-bc94-06df58c9d4ad.jpg
Jean as a young girl in the 1930s
Andy Peterson uploaded photo(s)
Monday, May 4, 2020
/public-file/1597/Ultra/faead6c7-a0be-4bc0-9d79-1e316fb85e94.jpg
Jean with Ana, Sam and DeWitt Peterson in front of Beth Peterson Wahlig's house in 08/2011
K
Keith Mattson uploaded photo(s)
Monday, May 4, 2020
/public-file/1596/Ultra/b71f26b5-3f9d-4a63-b420-6eac6afab0a9.jpg
Jean Mattson in Sweden in 2005. She visited there with her daughter-in-law Krisna, shortly after Jean's husband Norman passed away. Jean and Krisna made a special effort to trace the family history of Norman's Swedish ancestry.
e
The family of Jeanette May Mattson uploaded a photo
Monday, May 4, 2020
/tribute-images/3427/Ultra/Jeanette-Mattson.jpg
Please wait
About Us
We, the Higgins family, for over 135 years and four generations, have been privileged to serve the families and the community as a whole with professional service and personal attention.
WATCHUNG Location
752 Mountain Blvd
Watchung, NJ 07069
Steve Szczubelek, Manager