Jean F. Croghan, née Harrington
Born 12/16/1929, Boston, MA
Died 7/4/2023, Hanson, MA
Born in Boston on December 16, 1929, Jean was the eldest daughter of C. Theodore
and H. Margaret (Healy) Harrington. She was raised in Marshfield and Hanson and
graduated from Whitman High School, class of 1947. Jean was a secretary at
Gilmour, Rothery & Co., Boston, until marriage in 1952 to Stephen John Croghan.
The couple lived in Boston and Hanson and raised a family of eight children. Mr.
Croghan died in 1984.
In 1964 Jean made history as the first woman candidate for election to the Board of
Selectmen in the Town of Hanson. She was a member of the Hanson Garden Club,
proudly maintaining landscape plantings at public spaces throughout town for many
years. Jean served the U.S. Postal Service, notably the first female rural mail carrier
in Hanson, until retirement in 2000, the year she bought season tickets to the Patriots
as a Christmas gift for her sons.
Classical music, watching the sun rise and the sound of summer rain thrumming on
the roof were among Jean’s pleasures. For her grandchildren, excursions to
Symphony Hall, the Maparium, and high tea were mandatory rites of passage.
Jean traveled to Australia, Europe and Japan, enrolled in community college Spanish
classes, volunteered at the local food pantry, and sang in her church choir. Love of
God, kindness, humility, and good will toward all were the pillars of Jean’s character.
She personified what is profound about motherhood: to perceive each person’s unique
qualities and to nurture those talents and abilities. A woman of remarkable fortitude,
Jean’s long life was a demonstration of virtue in action.
She is survived by her sister Mary Tucker and her husband James of Monponsett,
daughter Mary Croghan of East Hampton, New York, daughter Ann Krueger and
husband Francis of Halifax, son Stephen Croghan and wife Terese of Hanson, son
Patrick Croghan and wife Joanne of Hanson, daughter Marguerite Cummings and
husband Paul of East Sandwich, 24 grandchildren, 32 great-grandchildren, and
dozens of nieces and nephews. Three children died before her, Virginia Billings,
Robert and Matthew Croghan, as did her granddaughter Erin Croghan, and two of her
great-grandchildren, Caroline and Molly Krueger, as well as six of her seven siblings,
brothers Theodore, James, William, Paul and John Harrington and sister Rose Dunlea.
Donation can me made in Jean's name to;
NAMI – Plymouth Chapter, PO Box 1398 Marshfield, MA 02050
Visiting hours Friday from 4-8pm at Leighton Mackinnon Funeral Home 4 West Washington St (corner of 58) Hanson, relatives and friends are invited to attend.
Jeans Funeral Service will be held on Saturday July 8th at 10am at Fern Hill Cemetery High St Hanson
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