Longtime Perrysburg resident and civic activist, Jean Duston, passed away July 20 in Alexandria, Virginia, where she moved three years ago to be near her daughter. She was 96.
Jean lived in Perrysburg from 1961 until 2018, was named the Virginia Stranahan Perrysburg Citizen of the Year in 2006 for her many local and statewide activities.
She served four years on the Perrysburg Board of Education and four years on the board of Friends of the Wood County Parks, including a term as treasurer. She served seven years on Perrysburg’s Planning Commission and two terms on its Charter Review Commission.
A steadfast advocate for women’s rights, she was appointed by President Gerald Ford to the Ohio Steering Committee for International Women’s Year in 1975 and was a delegate-at-large to the White House Conference on Families, appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1980.
In more recent years, Jean had a lot of fun portraying suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton for school children and adult groups as part of the Women in History Project run by the American Association of University Women.
Her devotion to voting rights also was reflected in her life membership in the League of Women Voters, where she served two years as local president and seven years on the state board in several capacities including secretary, treasurer, membership chair and Equal Rights Amendment chair.
Jean was born in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, in 1924, the only child of Henry and Doris (Niemeyer) Wittenberg. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she majored in accounting, she earned her CPA and worked for the city of LaCrosse as an accountant until she married Dean Duston in 1949.
After their wedding, the young couple settled in Toledo where Dean, a mechanical and electrical engineer, had obtained a position as a manufacturer’s representative for the Trane Co. Dean had a long career in commercial sales for numerous heating and air conditioning companies in the Toledo area. He and Jean were married 67 years and, in retirement, travelled extensively both domestically and abroad. Dean died in 2016.
In the 1950s, employers rarely hired married women with children into professional positions. So Jean, while raising her three children, devoted herself to club work and their school activities, including serving as president of the Perrysburg Elementary School Mothers Club in the 1960s. She always enjoyed accounting and, when her children reached a certain age, developed a fulfilling career working for governments, including the Perrysburg and Toledo library systems, small business clients and nonprofit organizations. But she never gave up her volunteer, civic work.
Jean was a dedicated Christian Scientist, who lived since 2018 at Lynn House, a Christian Science assisted living and nursing facility in Alexandria. She was an active member of First Church of Christ Scientist, Maumee, where she served over the years as a Sunday school teacher, reader, board chairman and reading room librarian.
She is survived by her daughter, Diane Duston of Arlington, Virginia; son, Reed Duston (Candace Ford) of Siletz, Oregon; son, Craig Duston (Tighe Duston) of Union, Kentucky, and grandson, Jeffrey Parry of Arlington, Virginia.
A celebration of life service will be held October 9, at 1 p.m., at Witzler-Shank-Walker Funeral Home, 222 East South Boundary Street, Perrysburg (419-874-3133). Jean wished that contribu
Jean wished that contributions be made to First Church of Christ Scientist, Maumee, Ohio (christiansciencenwo.org/1stMaumee/); LWV Perrysburg Area Education Fund (my.lwv.org/ohio/perrysburg-area); or the Wemmer Trust Fund of AAUW (Toledo-oh.aauw.net.)