The Dorothy J Dethloff Fund honors GoPhil Co-Founder Linda Dethloff DeWolf’s mother Jean, who passed away unexpectedly on March 21, 2020, though she was almost 99 years old. Jean was an RN and worked in many health care settings serving women and children. That was her passion, so Linda decided to honor her by establishing a memorial fund in her name that supports GoPhilanthropic programs that serve women and children’s health during times of crisis.
Jean was born on July 23, 1921 in Newman, IL. She was the daughter of Clinton Boyer and Ena Marie Skidmore Boyer. She married Phillip Arthur Dethloff on February 21,1944. Her beloved Phillip (Phil) died April 16, 2000.
Jean graduated from Julia F. Burnham School of Nursing in Champaign in 1943 (actual graduation 1944). She worked as a nurse manager in many different settings and was known far and wide for her enormous compassion and generous spirit. If anyone ever needed someone to care for them, they called on Jean. She was the one who always stepped in and took charge, no matter the circumstances or personal sacrifices she might need to make. Caring for others was her life’s purpose.
Jean belonged to the First Christian Church in Villa Grove. Jean and Phil each have scholarship funds in their names at the University of Illinois; hers at the School of Nursing, Chicago campus.
Despite the fact that she and Phil enjoyed traveling the globe far and wide and lived in some 6 states during their 56 years of marriage, Newman was the place Jean called home. She and Phil not only built a house in Newman but also owned a farm they purchased in 1969. They dearly loved that farm and it was a source of great enjoyment and the site of many family picnics.
In everything, she created her own path. Jean’s favorite poem was Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken. Her family consider the poem to be a fitting tribute to her life:
“…I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence;
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
Jean is survived by her sister Barbara Moore who lives in Champaign. Jean is preceded in death by her sister Marie Mankey and six brothers Beryl, Dale, Donald, Forrest, Louis and Joseph Boyer.
Jean’s daughter Linda DeWolf lives in Santa Fe, NM and her sons Gregory (wife Brooke) and Christopher (wife Suzanne) are both in Cedar Rapids, IA. Jean’s son Gary Dethloff and his wife Vicky live in Florahome, Fl. Their sons are Joseph ( wife Stephanie), St John’s FL, and Neil ( wife Julie), Jacksonville, FL. Jean was an amazing mother, grandmother, great grandmother and has 11 wonderful grandchildren: Riley DeWolf, Jack DeWolf, Grace DeWolf, Lindsay DeWolf, Christian DeWolf, Weston DeWolf, Margaret Dethloff, Abigail Dethloff, Phillip Dethloff, Arthur Dethloff and Alice Jean Dethloff. She also has many nieces and nephews who consider her their second mom.