Edith Jean Moulton

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Category: Obituaries

Created on Wednesday, 06 February 2013 11:37

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Edith Jean Moulton (Aunt Jean) passed away Jan. 31 after a sudden illness, surrounded by her niece Valerie and great friends.
The longtime Sitka teacher was 84.
She was born in Rutland, Vt., the second daughter of Ernest Edwin and Edith Marie (Johnson) Carlson. She lived in several small towns, West Rutland and Barrie, Vt.
She graduated from the University of Vermont in 1950 with a teaching degree in elementary education.  The tuition was paid by the school on condition she taught four years in Vermont, and she did that in Burlington. 
  An uncle of hers had spent time in Alaska and it became a dream of hers to do the same.  So after fulfilling her four-year requirement, she headed for Alaska, making a brief teaching stop in Washington state.
Her first stop in Alaska was Ketchikan where she met the love of her life Jack Moulton. They were married for 46 years before his death in 2004.
After moving to Sitka in 1958 she taught fourth grade all through her career and thought of her students as her children. She thought fourth grade was the best time of wonderment in their lives.
“Aunt Jean never got over her loss and would give ‘Jack the business,’ as she said, when she would visit him everyday at the Sitka National Cemetery, except in the last year when her dementia caught up with he,” her family said.
 Aunt Jean was active in Delta Kappa Gamma, charter member of the United Methodist Church where she was very active; and volunteered for many years at the White Elephant Shop.
She enjoyed all forms of knitting dating back to high school and college when she would knit socks for a current boyfriend.
Crossword puzzle, puzzles and Tai Chi were other favorite pastimes.
“Aunt Jean always was upbeat and didn’t complain much,” said her family. “As she said, ‘complaining isn’t going to change it.’”
She loved Sitka and all her dear friends, but would get off the rock every year to visit family back east and friends all over the country.
“She will be missed very much – we loved her,” her family said.
She is survived by her sister Ruth’s children, Valerie, Ernie, Sheryl and Michael; cousins Judy Cregeur, Lynn Bourne, Paul Johnson and their families; and her beloved cat Rachel.
A memorial service is planned 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9, at the United Methodist Church. Friends are invited to join in a celebration of her life, and  are encouraged by the family to share a memory with them.  A reception will be at the Elks Lodge from 4 to 6 p.m.
In lieu of flowers the family suggests a donation to a charity “close to your heart.”

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