Jean Wallace Cameron, of Alliance, died Sunday, March 29, 2020 at Regional West Medical Center in Scottsbluff. She was 93.
A fifth generation Mainer, Jean was born in Orono, ME to Stanley (“Wally”) and Mildred Wallace on June 5, 1926. Even when living in Illinois, Ohio and Florida, she returned to the family camp at Maine’s Lake Seponac yearly, until well into her 70s. Jean had a long affiliation with the University of Maine, as the child and sister of faculty members, undergraduate, graduate student, and instructor in the entomology and botany departments. Her master’s thesis, The Orchids of Maine, was published in 1948 and remains in print.
Jean met her husband, John H. Cameron, in graduate school. They married in 1951, raising two sons and two daughters in the Cleveland and Chicago areas as they moved for John’s job with Gould Inc. During those years Jean’s hobbies included breeding registered Siamese cats, gardening, and crafts. Jean’s most striking artworks were in stained glass, depicting animals and flowers with the keen eye of a scientist. Jean also worked as a curator in the insect department of Chicago’s Field Museum. Jean and John retired to Clermont, Florida in 1987 and took great pride in their volunteer work as Florida Master Gardeners at the Lake County Agricultural Center, where she was known as “The Bug Lady.” They moved to Alliance in 2008 to be close to family, and John passed away in June, 2009. Jean volunteered at the Sallows Military Museum in Alliance and continued to garden into her 90s.
Jean was predeceased by her brothers, Edward and Robert Wallace. Her survivors include her children, John Stanley Cameron (Naomi) of Wellesley, MA, Anne Henderson-Weare (Leroy) and Leslie Jean Cameron of Alliance, and David Moore Cameron (Donna) of Grayslake, IL. She is also survived by six grandchildren, Sean, Daniel, and David Henderson, Jeffrey and Stephen Cameron, and Alison Harvey and a great-grandson, Chip Henderson.
A private family memorial service will be at a later date.
Online condolences may be left at www.batesgould.com.