Jean Margaret Mazzei's Obituary
Jean Margaret Williams was born on July 3, 1932 in Portland, Oregon to
Kenneth and Josephine Williams and died on January 9, 2016 in Tacoma,
Washington. She is survived by Sandy Mazzei, her devoted husband of 53
years.
Jeanie spent her early years in constant transition as her father was a
civil engineer working on the construction of Highway 99. She attended
28 different schools from Ashland Oregon to Washington state as they
moved from town to town as sections of highway were completed. Jean's
interest in tennis started early in her life while watching her parents play
when she was a young girl. It wasn't long before she wanted to get in the
act herself. Her dad tried to help her get started and soon it was, "by
myself" (her favorite phrase) and from then on it was her focus and
passion. She was an only child and because of her many moves from town
to town, she had a hard time finding someone to play with when her dad
was not available, so she always sought out a backboard to hit against.
Being the new girl in each school she attended was difficult at best and
she was her happiest when she found a tennis friend.
The family ended up in Aberdeen, where she attended Weatherwax High
School and she began what would become a 60 year legacy of
volunteering in tennis related activities. As a 17 year old student, she
took on the role of player-captain and coach, and talked her mother into
serving as advisor to the tennis team, which was the only inter-school
sport for girls in those days. She graduated high school in 1951 and was
undefeated in tennis.
Jean packed her bags and moved north to attended University of Puget
Sound and had to live in the gymnasium until the girls’ dormitory was
completed. She carried on her folks’ tradition to “give back to tennis” by
continuing to coach for three more years while attending college. She
graduated from UPS in 1955 and began her teaching career at Franklin
Pierce High school teaching history.
Her folks gave her a membership to the Tacoma Lawn Tennis Club as a
graduation gift and her volunteering blossomed, especially during the
preparation for and during the Pacific Northwest Tennis Tournament. She
served on the Registration desk between 1958 and 1999 which in those
days had over 500 entrants to the open, junior and senior events.
Jean met Sandy in a graduate psychology class at UPS the 1958 summer
session. The class was called "Motivation", of all things, taught by a
visiting Ivy League professor who wanted to challenge the ability of the
UPS students. So to keep up with the challenge, a group of students
gathered to study together daily. One day, Sandy and Jean got caught
red-faced playing footsies and never heard the end of it all summer! They
started dating and were married on August 1, 1962.
Jean loved teaching, especially her World Problems course because of her
concern about current events, especially in the middle east. She
encouraged students to learn about other cultures and arranged field
trips for interested students to visit intercultural events in the
community. She was advisor to the cheerleaders, chaperoned dances and
other student activities and enjoyed bowling with the faculty.
She taught at the time when the idea of taking advantage of teachers'
special talents through an interim month or so of specialized elective
courses was in vogue and federally funded. She taught tennis as an
individual lifetime sport, wrote goals and objectives and taught many
beginning, intermediate and advanced students daily for several years.
She encouraged young players by contributing racquets and trophies to
junior programs, especially an inner-city program.
Jean was a member of the Tacoma Lawn and Tennis Club and the
Lakewood Racquet Club. She served on the Senior Women's Tennis
Committee for over 25 years. Her most time-consuming job was keeping a
running total of Grand Prix points earned by senior women in age groups
35-75 as well as playing in many of the tournaments herself.
In 1997, she and her partner, Joyce Jones, were ranked 4th nationally in
65 doubles and with another partner won the intersectional 60s at Wild
Dunes, South Carolina. She and Doris Claypool played together in many
tournaments as well.
Jean's quiet, efficient approach in supporting senior tennis earned her the
Tillie Klansnic Senior Women's Service Award in 1995.
Jean enjoyed traveling with Sandy to many professional tennis
tournaments especially Wimbledon and the French Open. Seated on the
airplane home from Wimbledon the first time, she was weeping and
Sandy asked her why she was crying. She said, "It was so wonderful, but
we will never be able to do it again." Actually, together they went to
Wimbledon 5 times; to the French Open in Paris the year Michael Chang
from Seattle won; many other major tournaments, and the Indian Wells
California tournament for about 17 years until her Alzheimer's prevented
further travel.
Though tennis was her favorite pastime, Jean also enjoyed other hobbies
as well. She was an artist who enjoyed sketching and drawing. There are
several examples of her work for you to see during the reception. She
was a skilled knitter and made several projects including a sweater for
Sandy which he still wears. She enjoyed gardening and helping Sandy
maintain their home, even going so far as getting up on the roof of the
house to help keep it clear of leaves, pine needles and branches! She was
also concerned about the community and she and Sandy volunteered
many hours keeping the area looking nice by removing old, unsightly signs
from utility poles around the Lakewood area.
Jean was quiet and reserved and dearly loved her tennis friends. As the
years went by and her memory began to fail, she became frustrated
when she couldn't remember their names when she played with them.
Sandy is so thankful that the gals accepted her as she was and continued
to play with her, giving her the gift of participating in the sport she loved
for as long as possible.
What’s your fondest memory of Jean?
What’s a lesson you learned from Jean?
Share a story where Jean's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Jean you’ll never forget.
How did Jean make you smile?