Barbara Jean Schiavone, wife of the late Paul Schiavone, died on Tuesday, July 14, 2026.

Barbara, known to all as Jean, was born in Newton, Massachusetts, in 1931 to Joseph and Margaret McLellan. She was the second of five children, and she and her siblings grew up on Petty Street during the Great Depression. According to family lore, her older sister Peg could not pronounce “Barbara,” and the name Jean stayed with her from then on.

After graduating from Newton High School, Jean attended Katherine Gibbs in Boston, where she trained as a secretary.  Jean met Paul in Newton Upper Falls, and they married in 1952, bringing together the Irish and Italian cultures that shaped the neighborhood at the time. Between 1953 and 1965, they welcomed five children. In 1966, Paul’s career brought the family to Westport, Connecticut, where they began a new chapter together.

It didn’t take long for Westport to become home and the setting for some of the happiest years of Jean’s life. She and Paul settled in the neighborhood affectionately known as Hockanum Woods, where they quickly built lifelong friendships. Sunday family dinners in the dining room soon gave way to Sundays on the Compo Beach. Jean’s greatest joy was a day at Compo Beach, where she played cards with friends, chatted, read, soaked up the sun, or took a quick dip. She truly found her home on and in Long Island Sound.

Her devotion to family was her greatest pride. With grace, humor, and remarkable skill, she managed the daily rhythms of a family of seven: five lunch boxes, dinner at 6 p.m., carpools, mountains of laundry, teenage angst, and five children spit-and-polished for Mass every Sunday. She had a gift for making each of her children feel special and deeply loved, even if that love was occasionally accompanied by the threat of a wooden spoon or a bar of Ivory soap. Jean’s rigatoni and meatballs was the most-requested meal for all gatherings!

Frequent visits back to Newton were part of family life. Five kids in the Country Squire back and forth to Newton. Jean savored the time with her family and typically was the last one to get in the car to head home, singing out “I’m so glad we had this time together…” with her siblings.

Jean devoted her time to community service and to St. Luke Parish, where she was a parishioner for more than 60 years. She especially valued her work with the Friendly Visitor Program, the Multiple Sclerosis Society, Sacred Heart St. Anthony’s School, and the St. Luke Women’s Guild. One of her quietest but proudest acts of service was caring for the altar linens at St. Luke’s–a task she performed with love, reverence, and impeccable ironing skills! She and Paul could often be found sitting beneath the trees at the Compo Beach boat launch and they never missed a Thursday evening Beach Bunch gathering.

When grandchildren arrived, Jean and Paul embraced their roles as Nana and PopPop with boundless enthusiasm and became devoted fans of sports, concerts, and recitals.  They attended graduations, weddings, birthdays, or any celebration that involved their growing family. Known simply as Nana to all eight grandchildren, Jean could always be counted on to calm a crying baby, deliver meatballs, babysit or quietly fold and iron a waiting pile of laundry. Nothing brought her greater happiness than watching her family grow and seeing the love, kindness, and respect they shared with one another.

Jean’s deep and steadfast faith guided her throughout her life, sustaining her through both life’s joys and its challenges. Her devotion to caring for her family never wavered, especially during Paul’s illness and declining health. She faithfully maintained a daily prayer list that grew to include family and friends, as well as anyone in need. You were blessed to be on Jean’s prayer list! Her rosary beads were her constant companion, always tucked into her pocket and never far from her hand.

Jean is predeceased by her four siblings Peg Davis, Dick McLellan, Ruth Vlass (Gordon) and Tom McLellan. She is survived by her five children Dr. Karen Edwards (Lawrence), Joseph Schiavone (Kan), Paula Bruns (Robert), Nancy Schiavone (Norman Schulman), Barbara Pinkerton (Steven), her eight grandchildren Katherine Bernard (Scott), Benjamin Bruns (Christina) Timothy Bruns (Eleni) Emily Schulman (David Stone), Peter Schulman, Molly Edwards, Alison Pinkerton, Michael Pinkerton and her five great grandchildren Alice Bernard, Elijah Bruns, Noah Bruns, Lucia Bruns and Anais Stone. She also leaves behind her beloved sisters-in-law, Sally McLellan and Betty McLellan, and brother-in-law Gene Davis along with many cherished nieces and nephews.

Visiting hours will take place at on July 30 at Harding Funeral Home, 201 Post Road East, Westport, from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. A funeral mass for Paul and Jean will follow immediately afterward at St. Luke’s Church, 49 Turkey Hill Road, Westport at 11a.m. Interment will take place on Saturday, September 26 at Saint Mary’s Cemetery in Newton, MA.

Donations in Jean’s memory may be made to the Matthew 25 Fund at St. Luke Church, which provides food and assistance to individuals and families in need and supports the parish food pantry.

Jean’s signature farewell remains her lasting message: I love you, and God bless you.