Jean Whitaker Westwater, 93, died peacefully on Monday, March 2, 2020, surrounded by loving family members.  Daughter of Lorine (Wilson) and Alfred D. Whitaker, Jean grew up in Rumford, Rhode Island and attended East Providence High School.  After graduating from the University of Rhode Island in 1948, she taught elementary school while living in Rehoboth, Massachusetts.

Jean married William A. Westwater in 1949, and they lived in Orono, Maine, and Boston, Massachusetts, for the first few years of their marriage.  They moved to Reading, Massachusetts, in 1950 where they raised their daughters Liz and Julia.  

Jean realized the importance of and was committed to protecting the environment, which led her to being an active member of the Reading Conservation Commission. She was also a Girl Scout leader, a Sunday school teacher at the First Congregational Church, and a member of the Garden Club and College Club.

In 1983, Jean and Bill moved to Little Compton where she was an active member of the United Congregational Church, volunteering in the Thursday Thrift Shop for many years and serving as chair of the flower committee. Jean was an avid gardener with a real talent for floral arranging, and a member of the Sogkonate Garden Club. In retirement, Jean and Bill took to the road and traveled extensively around the globe.

Jean and Bill moved to Mashpee, Massachusetts in 201 to be closer to their daughters and their families.  They joined the Waquoit Congregational Church where they were warmly welcomed.

Jean was generous, intelligent, and feisty.  She cared deeply about issues of women’s equality and was devoted to her extended family.  Even though she lived in Massachusetts for over 30 years, she was always a proud Rhode Islander at heart.

Jean leaves her daughter, Elizabeth Westwater and her spouse, Robert Weekes; her daughter, Julia Westwater and her spouse, Jayne Doucette; and her granddaughter, Naomi Westwater Weekes and her spouse, Daniel Blahnik, as well as many nieces, nephews and great nieces and nephews.

A memorial service celebrating her life will be held at 11 a.m. on May 2 at the Waquoit Congregational Church.  In lieu of flowers, donations in Jean’s memory may be made to the 300 Committee Land Trust (https://300committee.org/).