116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Obituaries
The Gazette publishes obituaries on a daily basis. Use the search field above to search for obituaries by name or keyword. Readers can submit an obituary or submit a milestone to The Gazette. The obituary must be submitted before 1 p.m. for publication on thegazette.com at 6 p.m. and in the daily edition the next day, with the exception of obituaries for Sunday publication, which must be submitted by 1 p.m. on Fridays.
The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
Jean A. Lakin
Jean A. Lakin
Iowa City
Jean A. Lakin, 91, died peacefully on Sunday, January 26, 2025, surrounded by her loving family.
A Celebration of Life is being planned for later this year at Oaknoll. Jean donated her body to the University of Iowa Deeded Body Program. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Iowa City Hospice, Friends of Iowa Public Television or the Iowa Women’s Foundation.
Jean was born on September 22, 1933, in Menomonie, Wisconsin. She was the daughter of Merle and Gerhard Johnson. She graduated from high school in Royal Oak, Michigan in 1951, and from Henry Ford Hospital School of Nursing in 1954. Jean was united in marriage to James Lakin in Royal Oak, Michigan on April 6, 1957. He preceded her in death on April 28, 1988.
Jean obtained a Baccalaureate Degree in Public Health Nursing from the School of Public Health at University of Michigan in 1959, and a Master of Public Health Degree from Michigan in 1967. After moving from Ann Arbor, Michigan to Iowa City in the fall of 1967, Jean began her long career at the University of Iowa College of Nursing. She taught undergraduate students and graduate level community health nursing courses and served as Nursing Co-Director of the Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Program, Assistant Coordinator of the Region VII Child Abuse and Neglect Resource Center on the Oakdale Campus, and as Interim Manager of the Student Health Services program for the Cedar Rapids Community School District. Jean earned her Ph.D. in Higher Education from the University of Iowa in 1982, and continued teaching until her early retirement in 1994.
Jean was also actively involved with the Iowa Public Health Association, chairing several committees and serving as President in 1990-1991. She served on numerous committees for the Public Health Nursing Section of the American Public Health Association. She was also a member of the National League for Nursing, the Iowa Nurse’s Association, the Governor’s Task Force for Healthy Iowans 2000, and the School Health Services Task Force for the Iowa Department of Public Health.
Throughout her career, Jean remained actively involved in the Iowa City area with a number of service organizations. She chaired several committees for the Visiting Nurse Association of Johnson County Board of Directors, including a term as President. She chaired two committees at the Johnson County Health Department: Healthy People 2000, and the Johnson County Community Health Needs Assessment. In recognition of her extensive work with these committees and her other work in public health, Jean received the Richard D. Remmington Award from the Iowa Public Health Association, both in 1993 and 1999. Jean was an active member of the Johnson County League of Women Voters and also served as president of her condo association for many years.
Jean was preceded in death by her parents and husband. Survivors include her daughter, Patricia (Barry) Lakinsmith of Los Gatos, California and her son, David (Ashley) Lakin of Hamilton, Montana, as well as her grandchildren: Gerhard, Cameron, Carson, Henry, Noah, and Grace.
Online condolences at www.lensingfuneral.com.
Daily Newsletters