Jeanne S. Overstreet

Jeanne S. Overstreet, 96, passed away peacefully Saturday June 6, 2015, with her family by her side in Pownal, Vermont. A resident of South Stream Road since 1967, Jeanne was born in Mansfield, CT on October 14, 1918. She was the daughter of William Lorenzo Slate and Edna Elizabeth Jackson. She obtained her BA from Smith College in 1940, and married Alan Burr Overstreet (Burr) in 1944. She worked in the Zoology Department and the Alumnae Office at Smith College. With her husband Burr, a Professor of Government at Smith, facilitated the Smith College Junior Year Abroad Program in Geneva, Switzerland in the 1950s and 1960s. Jeanne was very active in the community after she retired. She was a board member and active volunteer with the Green Mountain Red Cross, the Solomon Wright Library in Pownal and the Pownal Historical Society. She volunteered at the Southwestern Vermont Medical Center for several years as well.Jeanne will be remembered for her generosity, love and optimism. Jeanne traveled the world to not only see family and friends, but to make new friends, for which she had an amazing gift. Jeanne was a lifelong supporter of the arts. She sponsored exhibits of the early 20th Century California pictorialist photographer and relative, Alice Burr, at the California Historical Society in San Francisco, the Santa Barbara Art Museum in Santa Barbara, the Davidson Art Center, Wesleyan College and the Welcome Center in Bennington. Following the shows she donated Alice Burr photographs to the California Historical Society and the Santa Barbara Art Museum. She gave generously to a variety of causes and organizations too numerous to mention. The New Yorker Magazine will miss their favorite and potentially longest subscriber.Jeanne is survived by nieces, nephews and cousins and a large circle of friends.A celebration of her life will be held at a later date. Memorial gifts may be made to either the Pownal Historical Society or Solomon Wright Library (Pownal) in care of the Hanson Walbridge & Shea Funeral Home, 213 West Main Street, Bennington, VT 05201. A celebration of her life will be held at a later date.