Jean Kendall

JEAN KENDALL

Iowa City

Jean Joy Kistler Kendall, 90, died peacefully at her home Tuesday, April 21, 2015. Funeral services will be 10 a.m. Monday, April 27, at Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service, Iowa City, with the Rev. Dr. Barrie Tritle

officiating. Burial will be at Memory Gardens. Visitation will be Sunday from 3 to 5 p.m. at the funeral home.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the University of Iowa Foundation for The Jean Kistler Kendall Student Life Fund.

Jean was born Nov. 1, 1924, in Mexico, Mo., the daughter of Joy William and Mary Elizabeth (Bothwell) Kistler. She was a graduate of Iowa City University High School and received her bachelor's degree from Louisiana State University in 1946 and a master's degree in business education from the University of Iowa in 1969. Jean married Phillip Gordon Kendall; they later divorced.

Jean began her 38-year career at the University of Iowa as a secretary to the chair of the Department of Physical Education for Women and after a brief hiatus, returned in 1965 as director of events in the IMU. Jean held several positions with increasing responsibility. In 1980, Jean became director of Union Services and Campus Programs, and in 1988, director of the IMU, retiring in 1998.

Throughout her career she demonstrated great care and respect for students who she interacted with on a daily basis. Jean was the face of the IMU.

Beginning in 1967, she co-founded the Staff Council. She served as charter member and chair of both the University Council on the Status of Women and the Women's Resource and Action Center (WRAC) Advisory Board. In 1994, Jean received the Iowa Board of Regents Award for Staff Excellence, and in 1988, the University of Iowa Distinguished Achievement Award from the UI Committee on the Celebration of Excellence Among Women.

Jean was an advocate for the arts and was responsible for the creation of the program to install original Iowa artists' works in the Iowa House Hotel rooms and graphic arts of Iowa cultural events throughout the IMU. She was involved in the Young Iowa High School Artist Exhibit which for many years showcased art from high school students at the IMU. The Kendall Gallery at the IMU recognizes her role in the aesthetic development of students and recognition of the arts at Iowa.

Jean was a member of First United Methodist Church, PEO, Altrusa and Questers. She had served on the board of the Wesley House Foundation, volunteered at the Crisis Center Hotline and at the UI Foundation. She enjoyed collecting Haviland china and antiques. Most important to Jean were her children and grandchildren.

Jean is survived by three children, Debra Kendall and Rebecca Kendall, both of Iowa City, and Scott (Elise) Kendall of Paris, Ky.; three grandchildren, Brittany Joy Kendall, Stuart Kendall and Jami Kendall; and her sister, Judith Callaghan of Myrtle Beach, Fla.

She was preceded in death by her parents and one brother, Jim.

Online condolences may be sent to www.lensing funeral.com.