Shrewsbury – Jean-Marie Newey, 90, of Shrewsbury, formerly of Westborough, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, December 20, 2023, at the Rose Monahan Hospice in Worcester following a courageous battle with cancer.
Born in Boston, she was the daughter of the late William and Agnes (Kohler) McSweeney. She was educated in Wellesley and graduated from the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston.
Jean was employed as the Art Supervisor for the Town of Grafton School System. Later, she worked as a substitute teacher in the Westborough school district before moving into school administration and then finishing her career in their Accounts Payable office.
She has been a resident of Shrewsbury since 2004, previously living in Westborough for 48 years.
She was active in many things, including classes at the local Senior Center, playing the piano or reading and doing crossword puzzles. However her greatest passions were always her family and her church. She was especially involved with her grandchildren’s activities and was a proud grandmother. She was a communicant of St. Luke the Evangelist Church, a CCD teacher and First Communion instructor, a member of the Forever Young Senior Adults, the Martha’s and Mary’s, and was a former member of the Westborough Players Club. She brought a smile and spread joy to everyone she encountered, whether it was announcing she felt “like a ray of sunshine” wearing a yellow sweater, or being known as the “Bread Lady” for the hundreds of braided loaves she baked as gifts or in support of her parish’s bake sales.
She is survived by four children, Kerin J. Black and her husband, Wayne, of Southborough, Kristen J. Saulnier and her husband, Brian, of Blackstone, Frederick K. Newey and his wife, Pamela, of Nashua, NH, and Kathe J. Coll and her husband, Stephen, of Northborough: one sister, Carol Podgewaite of Hamden, CT and eight grandchildren.
She was predeceased by her former husband, Frederick A. Newey and her brother, William B. McSweeney.
Her funeral Mass will be celebrated on Friday, December 29, at 10:30 A.M. in St. Luke the Evangelist Church, 70 West Main St., Westborough. Burial will follow in St. Luke’s Cemetery.
Calling hours at the Pickering & Son Westborough Funeral Home, 62 West Main St., Westborough, are Thursday, December 28, from 4 to 7 P.M.
In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to the UMass Chan Cancer Research via www.umassmed.edu.
