Jean M. La Rosa

August 21, 1930 - February 3, 2021

Jean La Rosa, 90, of Eagle, passed away peacefully on February 3, 2021. Jean was born in 1930 in Detroit, MI, where she grew up. She earned her Bachelor's degree from University of Detroit Mercy and continued on to earn a Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Michigan. She married Joseph, her husband of thirty years, in 1967. They relocated to Lansing and later to Eagle where she lived for almost fifty years. Jean was a devoted mother. After raising her three children, Jean resumed her career in social work, working in many aspects of the social services field, including senior care and child services. She was an active community member of St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Grand Ledge, and spent many years volunteering as a docent at the Michigan History Museum. Jean had an active life and loved to travel, visiting China, Russia, Guatemala, Australia, going on expeditions to see polar bears, and touring the United States. She was an avid gardener and earned a certificate as a Master Organic Gardener. Her home overflowed with the products of her organic garden, the homemade jams and tomato sauces, and beautiful plants and flowers she cultivated inside and outside her house. She also loved animals and enjoyed the companionship of her cat, Gilbert, and her golden retriever, Miley. Jean lived a long and healthy life and was able to spend her final months together with her children and grandson. She was compassionate, resilient and always present for her family and friends. She was the daughter of Harry and Martha (Werner) Dunstan. She is survived by her children, Mark (Laura), Melanie (Johanna), and Nicole; her grandson, Emerson; her sister, Joan; her brother, Robert; and many nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her husband Joseph, and her sisters Margaret and Dona. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Saturday, February 13, 2021, 11:00 am at St. Michael Catholic Church, Grand Ledge by Father James Eisele. You may watch the funeral mass for Jean at 11:00 am Saturday on the St. Michael Church YouTube channel at this link: https://youtu.be/scMHE6xXdzw. Rite of Committal will follow at Oakwood Cemetery. Visitation will be Friday from 2-4:00pm and 6-8:00pm with a Scripture Service at 7:30pm at the Holihan-Atkin-Barclay Funeral Home, Grand Ledge. Covid 19 protocols requiring masks at the visitations and the mass along with social distancing will be observed. Memorial contributions in Jean’s name may be given to the Maryknoll Sisters, P.O. Box 317, Maryknoll, NEw York 10545 (https://secure2.convio.net/mks/site/Donation2?1400.donation=form1&df_id=1400&_ga=2.220388240.961516185.1612797167-1863408831.1612797167&s_subsrc=21ZOZZZ) or the World Wildlife Fund, 1250 Twenty-Fourth Street, N.W., P.O. Box 97180, Washington D.C. 20090-7180 (https://support.worldwildlife.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=main_monthly&s_src=AWE2104OQ18299A01180RX&_ga=2.11930740.132491410.1612795336-398853940.1612795336)