Jean Ann Jackson Alley, 86, of Owensboro, passed away on July 6, 2024, at Heartford House, where she was surrounded by family. Jean was born in Owensboro on March 18, 1938, to Donald H. Jackson, and Esther Cole Jackson. She fell in love with art at a young age where she spent her spare time around her mother’s dining room table drawing or painting. She briefly attended Owensboro High School before transferring to Sullins College in Bristol, VA to finish her high school career, receiving an Associates of Art in 1958. She continued her education at the University of Kentucky graduating in 1961, with a Bachelor of Science in Commerce, where very few women received a business degree at that time. She was an avid artist and collector who loved to spend her time painting, drawing, and creating pottery. She had a creative, crafty, eccentric mind with a feisty spirit that never seemed to rest. In 1974, Jean decided to give her entrepreneurial and imaginative gifts a challenge by opening “Gee, the Kids Need Clothes” a children’s specialty boutique in downtown Owensboro. She successfully managed the store for 29 years until 2003. She decided to close the doors to focus on her craft; being an artist and create beautiful drawings. Jean was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. In 1958, she was honored and selected to be a Page during the 67th Continental Congress of the DAR held in Washington, D.C. She was a life-time member of Settle Memorial United Methodist Church.
Jean was preceded in death by her parents, Donald H. Jackson and Esther Cole Jackson; stepmother, Ruth Bivens Jackson; second husband, George M. McCullough; great-grandson, Kaden Renfrow; brother-in-law, John R. Fleming; and her nephew, Donald Scott (Scotty) Fleming.
She is survived by her three children, Karen (Dan Sylvia), Brian (Shannon), Donna (Jason Seaton). She was the proud grandmother of nine grandchildren: Benjamin Sylvia (Allison) of Florence, SC, Joseph Sylvia and Nathan Sylvia of Stanley, VA, Karissa (Matt Renfrow) of Owensboro, Caleb Alley of Elizabethtown, Meredith and Brianna Alley both of Owensboro, McLaren and Harper Seaton of Edwardsville, IL, and five great grandchildren. She leaves behind her beloved sister, Marilyn Jackson Fleming, of Louisville.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. on Friday, July 12, 2024 at James H. Davis Funeral Home and Crematory. Burial will follow in Rosehill Cemetery. Visitation is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday at the funeral home.