Jean Knight Schwetman

Jean Knight Schwetman Mary Jean Knight Schwetman died Wednesday, September 11, 2002 in Austin. Services will be held at 2:00 pm Saturday, September 14 at Seventh and James Baptist Church in Waco with Dr. Wally Christian and Dr. Raymond Bailey officiating. Burial will follow at Oakwood Cemetery. Friends and family are invited to a reception at Seventh and James Baptist Church after the burial. Arrangements are through Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey, 1124 Washington Ave. Jean Schwetman was born on May 13, 1911, in Eddy, Texas, the daughter of John Randal and Mary Moore Knight. She graduated from Texas Christian University with a degree in English and attended graduate school at the University of Texas. She and Herbert Schwetman were married in 1939. During their marriage of 62 years, they resided in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Waco, where they both participated in the life of Baylor University and Seventh and James Baptist Church. A noted birding enthusiast, Jean spoke to many organizations on birding and taught courses on bird identification at McLennan Community College, introducing many beginners to the joys of birding. She combined her love of nature and language by writing the weekly “Nature Notebook” column in the Waco Tribune-Herald for 30 years, contributing over 1500 articles on nature, birding and the environment. Some of these columns were collected and published in a book by the same title. She was a founding member and officer of the Waco Audubon Society and a member of the Texas Ornithological Society. She participated in many Christmas Bird Counts and was an observer for the Breeding Bird Surveys. She and her husband traveled to six continents, to observe many of the world’s species of birds. Jean was active in many organizations in Waco. She was president of three different PTA’s, served on the Board of Directors of the Waco Girls Club, and was a member and officer of the Baylor University Roundtable. She was also a member of the Elizabeth Gordon Bradley Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. She brought to all of her activities a keen intelligence and a gentle, thoughtful nature which endeared her to everyone she met. Jean Schwetman was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, her brother Robert Knight, and her sister Katherine Knight Baker. Survivors include her children and their spouses: Herbert, Jr. and Nan Schwetman of Austin, John and Jenny Schwetman, of Huntsville, and Rosemary and Bill Alexander of Austin, grandchildren, Sondra Schwetman and husband Michael Nagy, Melinda Miller and husband Marshall Miller, John D. Schwetman and wife Krista Twu, Katherine Rosen and husband Scott Rosen, Will Alexander and Randall Alexander and great-grandchildren, Marshall Miller, III and Melissa Miller. The family is grateful to the staffs of Austin’s Heartland Healthcare Center and Hospice Austin for their care and support of Jean. The family suggests that memorial gifts be sent to the Texas Ornithological Society Sanctuary Acquisition Fund, c/o Jimmy Jackson, Treasurer, P.O. Box 368, Beeville, TX 78104. Memorial guestbook at www.wilkirsonhatchbailey.com. WILKIRSON-HATCH-BAILEY