In loving memory of Jean Elizabeth Tremblay Sawin

Obituary

EDGEWATER, Fla=-Jean Elizabeth Tremblay Sawin, a resident of Edgewater for more than 30 years, entered into the arms of the Lord on Feb. 13,2017, after a short illness, surrounded by her loving family. She was 75. Born in St. Albans, Vt., on Nov. 4, 1941, Jean enjoyed sports in her youth. In high school, she played basketball and softball and was also a lifeguard. She graduated in 1959 from Thayer High School in Winchester, N.H., where she had moved with her family in the middle of her senior year. At a New Year’s Eve dance her senior year at the local community center, she met Carlton Sawin, a young sailor on leave who gave her a big kiss at midnight when the lights were down (to the chagrin of her father, who ran the center, when the lights came up). They were married eight months later, on Sept. 5, 1959, raised three wonderful daughters together, and were happily married for more than 57 years. In 1970, Carl and Jean and their young family moved from New Hampshire to South Glens Falls, N.Y. They lived in South Glens Falls for 16 years, moving to Florida in 1986. During her years in South Glens Falls, Jean worked at the junior high school as a teacher’s aide in remedial reading. She also was the high school’s first JV girls’ softball coach, coached girls’ softball at Moreau Rec, coached the high school’s cheerleading squad, and was a Brownie and Girl Scout troop leader. Jean loved animals and pets, especially her two dachshunds. She would buy a particular brand of food for a stray cat because she insisted that the cat only liked that particular kind. She also enjoyed gardening. She was like a surrogate mother for her grandchildren (and even for some of her neighbors’ children), and recently doted on her great-grandchildren, the youngest of whom was born in December. She cherished her family and loved nothing better than to have them all around her to enjoy the holidays or a cookout. She loved decorating for Christmas. Her mother, Eleanor Briggs Tremblay, died in 1956, when Jean was only 15. Her father, Adrian “Babe” Tremblay, died in 1993. Jean is survived by her beloved husband, Carlton; her three loving daughters, Karen (Jeff) Plude of Halfmoon, N.Y., Pamela (Edmund) Mills of Edgewater, Fla., and Carla Ruff of Edgewater, Fla.; her six grandchildren, Ronald (Jocelyn) Gray, Ashley (Matthew) Chandler, Cory (Bridget) DeWitt, Nicholas Jock, Zachary Jock, and Elyssa Ruff; her three great-grandchildren, Leahna Gray, Lillian Gray, and Ava DeWitt; her five brothers and sisters, Ann (Melvin) Baskin of Naples, Fla., Cyndi (Scott) Gerlach of Grantham, N.H., Thomas (Cathy) Tremblay of Fort Myers, Fla., Kate Tremblay of Montpelier, Vt., and Robert Tremblay of Mesa, Ariz.; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins. A memorial service for Jean will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, February 18, at Baldwin Brothers Funeral & Cremation Society, 1 North Causeway, New Smyrna Beach, Fla. Her ashes will be interred at Cape Canaveral National Cemetery in Mims, FL. Donations in Jean’s memory may be made to the Halifax Health-Hospice, South Volusia Care Center, at www.halifaxhealth.org/ services-treatments/ our-serviceslhospice-care/givingldonation-portal, or at Halifax Health-Hospice, Fund Development, 3800 Woodbriar Trail, Port Orange, FL 32129.