Obituary of Jean K. Vidal

Jean Kathryn Vidal, 94 Jean Kathryn Vidal, 94, of Goshen, NY, passed away on March 14. She was a member of the Glen Arden retirement community since 2000 and had more recently been a resident of the Glen Arden Health Center. Jean was born to Edmund and Kathryn Lawler of Spring Valley, NY, on January 29, 1921. Her father was a business leader and Postmaster of that village. Jean graduated from Spring Valley High School and went on to receive a teaching degree from Rider College in Princeton, NJ. She played both basketball and tennis at the varsity level. She married her high school sweetheart, Eugene Clark Vidal, a graduate of Duke University, while he was serving as Lieutenant Commander in the US Navy. They raised their family in nearby Pomona, NY where they lived in a community called the Pomona Country Club. The "Club" was started in 1909 by four NYC teachers seeking a summer escape from the city. Eventually thirty three families built small cottages and homes on this 100 acre farm and shared recreational and social activities in this unique community. Both Jean and her husband were active leaders in local civic organizations in the Spring Valley area. They loved all outdoor activities and were avid sailors, entering races on the Hudson River most summer weekends. Jean and Eugene moved to Peru, Vermont in 1967 where they bought an 18-room ski lodge which they operated for 10 years. They eventually retired to a log cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains, near Murphy, N.C.. Jean resided in Murphy for 20 years, was active in her church and enjoyed delivering Meals on Wheels in that rural setting. In 1999, Jean came back to Goshen, NY to be near family. Jean is predeceased in death by her husband, Eugene Clark Vidal and her sister, Dorothy L. Shelly. Jean is survived by her son, Gene Lawler Vidal, of Goshen, NY, her daughter, Nicola Jean Shipman, of Greenfield, Massachusetts, five grandchildren Robin, Daniel, Kathryn, Rachel, and Seth and eight great-grandchildren. Jean brought our large extended family together and we will miss her dearly. We are grateful to the Glen Arden community and Health Center for the special care, kindness and warmth they showed to Jean. Burial will be private with her family at Brick Church Cemetery, Spring Valley, NY. Arrangements under the care of the Donovan Funeral Home, Inc., Goshen, NY.