Jeanne Stopulos

Jeanne K. Stopulos, 97, of Bettendorf, Iowa passed away Saturday, September 14, 2019 at her residence.

Funeral services and Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, September 17, 2019 at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport. Burial will be at Mt. Calvary Cemetery. Visitation will be from 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Cathedral. Halligan McCabe DeVries Funeral Home in Davenport is assisting the family with arrangements.

Jeanne Katherine Sullivan was born December 7, 1921 in Grinnell, Iowa to Elbert James and Alice Mae Sullivan. She was raised in Mt. Vernon, Iowa and later attended Marycrest College in Davenport, Iowa.

On February 13, 1943 the Women’s Marine Corps was created.  Seven days later she enlisted becoming the first woman in Scott County to do so.  She was part of the first class of enlisted Women Marines which completed its basic training at Hunter College, The Bronx, New York City.  She was initially stationed at Marine Headquarters in Arlington, VA and later at the Ordinance Department in San Francisco, CA.  She is honored to have her uniform on permanent display at the Putnam Museum in Davenport.

She married James Stopulos at St. Paul the Apostle Church in Davenport on December 29, 1945.  They enjoyed 72 wonderful years together until the love of her life passed away in 2018.

Jeanne was a very talented artist and was one of the founding members of Studio 15 which was started in 1957 in Davenport and named for the number of artists in the original group.  She was also among a group of local artists (which included Paul Norton, Isabelle Bloom, John Bloom and others) that came up with the idea of a Beaux Arts Costume Ball as an annual fund-raising event for the Davenport Municipal Art Gallery, now known as the Figge Art Museum.  The Costume Balls began in the mid-fifties and continued for a number of years.

She took great pleasure in visiting art museums and galleries including museums in London, Dublin, Athens, Rome, Florence and cathedrals in Tuscany.  She served on the Davenport Museum of Art’s Artists’ Advisory Council.  Her creative skills also extended to poetry writing where she won several writing awards.

Jeanne devoted her life to lovingly raising her children only to have Alzheimer’s disease rob her and her family of her artistic talents, the sparkle in her eyes and her warm sense of humor.  Despite the cruelty of the disease, she never failed to see and appreciate the beauty of nature and all that surrounded her.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport or to the Figge Art Museum.

She was preceded in death by her husband, James; brother James (Fawnee), Scottsdale, AZ; sister Elizabeth Pannos, Las Vegas, NV; sister Connie (Clyde) Martaak, Tucson, AZ and her daughter Kathleen Ann Lynn, Wichita, Kansas.  She is survived by her sons Patrick (Kathy), Davenport; Michael (Mary Fran) and Thomas (Cindy), all of Bettendorf; 13 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren; and a son-in-law, Richard Lynn, Wichita, Kansas.