Jean Aires

Jean R. Aires

1942-2023

Jean R. Johnston Aires passed away on March 15, 2023, with the dignity with which she lived her life, quietly and still engaging well-wishers with her plans for outings and family events.  

Jean Aires was born in Kilmacolm, Scotland, a rural countryside village west of Glasgow on October 24,1942. In 1948, the five year-old Jean joined her family in the quintessential American immigrant story. In her case, that experience entailed moving from Glasgow to join her mother Mary’s sister, Margaret Miller Dignam, in Clifton, NJ to escape the economic devastation of post-World War II Europe.  A few years later the family briefly returned to Scotland but the opportunity of life in America soon drew them back to New Jersey. 

Jean graduated from Clifton High School in 1960 and then Paterson Teachers College (now called William Paterson University) in 1964 with a degree in Social Science and a subsequent Masters in 1988. 

After college, on a lark, Jean and a friend decided to find jobs in California. (Her stories of their cross-country adventure were regularly retold for entertained nieces and nephews). Jean enjoyed her California experience for about a year, before New Jersey drew her back. At Passaic High School, Jean found her life’s calling as not only a teacher, but more specifically, the kind of teacher students remembered years later for her ability to convey her love for classic “civics” and citizenship values through the many Social Studies courses she taught. Over the nearly 40 years she taught in Passaic, an increasing number of her students were immigrants or children of immigrants as Passaic itself emerged as more and more of a portal community welcoming newcomers from all over the globe to America. 

In the summer of 1966, at the fabled Jersey Shore, she met the athletic, dynamic and handsome John Aires. They mutually swept each other off each other’s feet and were married on September 15, 1967. John accepted a position as a Physical Education Teacher (later becoming a renowned Football and Baseball head coach and Scout) at North Shore High School in Long Island, NY, which required Jean and John to begin a series of long commutes between their homes in Passaic, NJ and subsequently Centerport, Long Island. They flipped the long commute first with John traveling back to Passaic and then, when they moved to Centerport around 1976, with Jean traveling back to Centerport. 

John’s parents and family got to know Jean well as she would spend many nights at their home at The Enclosure in Nutley, NJ, much closer to her teaching job in Passaic. This served to cement the bond which so many in John’s family held with Jean over the years. After John’s untimely death in 1982, Jean settled in the Packanack neighborhood of Wayne, NJ to be near friends and family and where she pursued her second career as a Real Estate Agent with Coldwell Banker, where she remained engaged until her death. 

Jean was passionate about education, family, and community service. She championed several organizations, such as the League of Women Voters, where she served as an officer of the New Jersey Chapter and dedicated many years to non-partisan consideration of important national and statewide issues. Girls Rising was another organization she cared deeply about-- fundraising for scholarships for underprivileged girls. In addition, she was active in supporting the Boys and Girls Club of Paterson where she was honored for her contributions as Woman of the Year in 2001. 

Among her numerous philanthropic endeavors, William Paterson University was held in highest esteem by Jean for the seminal education she received there and what she perceived to be the role William Paterson played in accessible exemplary higher education.  In turn, she gave back by funding The Aires Annual Scholarship.  She was a Board member of the William Paterson Foundation where she secured and stewarded private philanthropic funding to position the University as a preeminent public institution in New Jersey. She was a Board member of the Hobart Manor Revitalization Committee which raised funds to restore a treasured historic landmark. She was a member of the Alumni Executive Council which fostered an ongoing relationship between the University and graduates. She was an ever-faithful organizer or supporter of numerous significant speakers who visited campus, the annual Golf Outing and receptions.  

A testament to her commitment to her students was the fact that many of these young people returned years after graduating to touch base and refresh their relationship with her. She was the sort of teacher who purchased supplies from her own resources for her students who could not afford to themselves and spent innumerable after school hours with students to nurture love of country and citizenry. 

Jean came from a proud family of Scot immigrants and married into a large family of Irish, English, and German ancestry. She was a woman up for the task. She remembered every birthday and occasion for each of John’s 9 siblings. She never forgot a niece or nephew for a graduation or birthday or that of their subsequent children and then their children. A card was in the post for Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Passover, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas. She never forgot someone for whom she cared. This extended to the families of her good friends including the Beckers, Cochrans, Clarkes, Goldbergers, Kiernans, Lemkes, and Schweigherts. 

She was predeceased by her intrepid parents Mary Miller and Douglas Johnston; her ebullient, effervescent, and energetic husband John Aires; and her adored older brother Douglas. She is survived by her faithful and loving cousins Dorothy Manz and Barbara Dignam, sisters-in-law Eileen Sullivan Aires (Bill), Sister Barbara Aires, SCNJ, Cathy Cassell (Ollan), Dotsy Fitts (Tom), many nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews.  Jean will be missed for the enthusiasm and energy she invested in the lives of those she touched — and she touched many lives in many ways. Her passion, faithfulness and dedication will long be remembered.