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Jean C. Hildreth died on May 23, 2017, at Pathways Hospice, MacKee Medical Center, in Loveland, Colorado, of cancer, diagnosed four years ago. She was 79.
Ms. Hildreth was born on November 17, 1937 in Southampton. She earned an associate’s degree in dental hygiene and worked as a dental hygienist. In 1957, she married Charles Edward “Rock” Hildreth. They were married for 30 years before Mr. Hildreth’s death in 1987.
Ms. Hildreth was a visible member of the community in many ways. She ran the Sagaponack General Store for a number of years. After marrying her second husband, Ronald Wasser, she also owned and operated the Crosscut Café. For a time she wrote for the East Hampton Star newspaper. Much later, she also made her mark in Greenport when she ran a retail store, H. Hildreth & Company, with her daughter, Dee, and son-in-law Harvey.
She was often found in a position of service in the community, including sitting on many school boards and serving on the Southampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals.
In 1990, she decided to pursue her true calling: gemology. She completed her training at the Gemology Institute in Santa Monica, California, and went to work as a graduate gemologist. She moved to Fort Collins, Colorado, in 2003 and, in 2005, married her third husband, Edwin Overholt. He predeceased her in 2011. Ms. Hildreth retired in 2011, having spent a number of years in the employ of John Atencio Jewelers in Fort Collins. In retirement, she pursued her love of oil painting and gardening.
Ms. Hildreth is survived by her daughter, Elizabeth and husband Harvey; a son, Scott Hildreth; four granddaughters; two great-granddaughters; and a brother, Robert Blinderman.
A funeral service was held on August 15.
Memorial donations may be made to the Fort Collins Cat Rescue Spay/Neuter Clinic, 2321 E. Mulberry St. #1, Fort Collins, CO 80524.
on Aug 14, 2017