Jean Rowland Magrath passed away on January 24, 2023 at Deaconess Hospital in Spokane due to complications following several procedures leading up to a new heart valve scheduled two days later.  He was 90.  Jean was born In New Bedford, Massachusetts on May 19, 1932, a direct descendant of Governor William F. Bradford of the Massachusetts Bay Colony on his mother's side.  He was the 7 ^th of 8 children born to Everett R. Magrath and Ethel M. Vaughan Magrath.  The span of the ages of his older siblings gave him the notoriety of being an uncle on the day of his birth.  Jean and his younger brother Richard "Dick" were inseparable as youngsters, and tales of their "mischief" were frequently shared with Jean's children as "things not to do".

Above all else, Jean was a lifelong, diehard "Braves" fan beginning with the Boston Braves in the late 1930's.  His enthusiasm spread to the rest of the family especially when WTBS in Atlanta began televising all 150 regular season games in 1982.  In 1995 his fan loyalty was rewarded with a World Series win for the first time since 1957 (only the second since 1914).  And another title in 2021—priceless.

Two years after dropping out of Dartmouth High School during his Junior year, he enlisted in the United States Air Force five days after his 19 ^th birthday in 1951 and was assigned to Fairchild Air Force Base/Geiger Field, as an aircraft mechanic working on B-17, B29 and B-36 bombers.  On a blind date in 1953, he met Shirley Eileen Brannan and they were married on March 7, 1954 at the Methodist Church in Colfax, WA.  Their first son Tom was born one year later at the Fairchild AFB Hospital.

Two months later, in May 1955, Jean decided to leave the Air Force after his initial 4 year commitment was up to try his hand at helping his father-in-law on his Colfax area ranch.  It was a short lived experiment after which he re-enlisted and was deployed to England for 6 months.  Upon his return he was assigned to Hamilton Air Force Base north of San Francisco where his daughter Karen (1958) and his younger son Jim (1959) were born.  In 1960, Jean cross-trained into radar maintenance where he would remain for the balance of his 20 year career.  Through assignments in the Washington DC area in 1961, Perrin AFB, TX in 1963 and at the NORAD Command Center in Cheyenne Mountain near Colorado Springs, CO 1967-1971, plus two 12 month remote Alaska tours, his duties included tracking aircraft, satellites and occasionally a UFO…top secret clearance prevented detailed family discussions, but suffice it to say, occasionally some objects had trajectories and maneuvers that were "abnormal".

After his retirement in 1971, the family relocated back to Spokane.  After 18 months on the Post Office waiting list his hope for a Postal Service career was realized.  He had various mail carrier routes over the 22 years but landed his own "home" route for his final decade.  Jean retired in June 1995 at the age of 63.  However, Jean was not quite done.  In 1993 he had joined the Spokane C.O.P.S Northwest squad, a volunteer organization formed the prior year to assist the local Spokane Police Dept. His "cub" reporter inclination and his natural curiosity for what was going on around him made this a perfect fit and brought a great amount of enjoyment to him.  He resigned from C.O.P.S after 23 years in 2016, due to a deterioration in his wife Shirley's health.  His final "job" was as a full time caregiver for Shirley until her passing in December 2020.   In the days immediately following Shirley's passing, he contracted and recovered from covid pneumonia and had a cancerous kidney removed.

As long as he was able, Jean was always ready and willing to help family for friends with anything.  He would rush to anyone's assistance on a moment's notice, whether the issue was one he knew how to fix or one where he would help "figure it out".  Many times when a call came in, Shirley's response would be…"Hold on, Jean's on the way".  That was who he was.  Late last year he was diagnosed with a defective heart valve.  Being a 90 year old with only one kidney did not deter the eternal optimist from accepting the risks involved with the replacement processes.  But in the end, the stress on his one remaining kidney and his frail condition due to the defective heart valve proved to be too much.  On January 24 ^th , with little forewarning, Jean slipped quietly into God's hands.

Jean is survived by his three children, Tom (Sue) Magrath of Spokane, Karen (Fred) Etten of Spokane, and Jim (Shelle) Magrath of Phoenix; 6 grandchildren, Megan Magrath, Brian (Kelly) Magrath, Rachel (Matt) Penny, Nicole (Zach) Martin, Nickolas (Breanna) Etten and Jake (Emily) Magrath; and 4 great-grandchildren, Payton, Cullen, Liam and Aidan.  The family also wants to recognize Jean's sister-in-law Helga Dyck, fellow Air Force buddy Frank Lepus and all of his friends at Affinity North on Mill Road in Spokane for their unwavering friendship and comradery, especially since Shirley's passing.  He was preceded in death by his beloved wife Shirley, his parents, his two sisters and his five brothers.  Memorial gifts in his memory to the American Cancer Society or the American Heart Association would be greatly appreciated.  An on-line guest book is available at www.corbeillfuneralhomes.com .

Corbeill Funeral Home of Colfax is handling the cremation and will be caring for the family.  A joint Celebration of Life for Jean and Shirley and Jean's burial in Colfax will be held on Saturday, March 18 ^th , at 2:00 pm in the chapel of Corbeill Funeral Home, Colfax.