Obituary
Jean Tena McCloskey passed away on August 16, 2026 at the age of 94 in a Portland hospital after a brief illness. She was born in Warwick, North Dakota, to Henry and Tena (Josephson) McCloskey. During WWII, her family moved to Portland, Oregon for better employment opportunities for her father. After graduating from Franklin High School, she attended Oregon State University for a few years before marrying and moving with her husband to a family farm in Springwater, Oregon. Many years later and after having six children, she completed a bachelor’s degree in elementary education at Portland State University. She taught at Molalla Grade School for 25 years until her retirement.
In the early 1980s, Jean acquired 65 acres of farm and forest land in Springwater and quickly realized she needed to learn about “farm forestry” management. She sought out resources, especially through OSU Extension Services for Clackamas County. In 1999 she was awarded Clackamas County Farm Forestry Association Woodland Farmer of the Year.
Jean attended lots and lots of OSU football games with friends and family, mostly home games but some away or bowl games, and faithfully watched or listened to any and all OSU sports broadcasts her entire adult life.
She was an active member of Springwater Presbyterian Church, Springwater Grange, Home Extension Services, and Clackamas County Farm Forestry Association, holding positions of leadership in each at some point. Over time, her garden shifted from vegetables to mostly flowers and blueberries. She had a life-long love of church hymns and Christmas carols and was the church pianist for a number of years.
In 1964 she started what would become an almost 60-year project of compiling an annual family scrapbook full of photos and memorabilia, stopping only after 2022. Once grandchildren started coming along, she added to her annual scrapbook project by making several pages for each, adding to “their” scrapbook until the year they graduated from high school. In more recent years, she wrote stories about her life experiences which were collected into a book and distributed to family. She was an amazing chronicler of family, community, and local events – in addition to the scrapbooks, she frequently wrote letters to her children when they were away at college or out of the country, had several “Letters to the Editor” published in The Oregonian, and faithfully sent an annual Christmas letter.
In 2015 she moved from her home in Springwater into a retirement facility in Clackamas, Oregon where she made new friends among residents and staff and continued to periodically host family gatherings.
She is survived by her children James, Mary (Dale Voeller), Mollie (Steve Harris), Tom, and Bill (Kim) Shibley; fourteen grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her son Paul (Jan Shibley).
A memorial service will be held at 11 am on Saturday, October 17th at Springwater Presbyterian Church, 24553 S. Springwater Road, Estacada, Oregon; catered lunch and reception to follow at Springwater Grange, 24591 S. Springwater Road, Estacada, Oregon.
Donations
Memorial contributions may be made to Springwater Presbyterian Church, 24553 S. Springwater Road, Estacada, OR 97023 or any charity of your choosing.