Katherine Jeans is my friend who I met at the Third Unitarian church and whose monthly book club I joined. She grew up in rural Kentucky with loving parents and five siblings during the Great Depression. Although experiencing bullying in her youth, she moved to beautiful Florida where she learned to make friends and wrote book reviews for the school newspaper. After marriage, she lived briefly in Georgia and Mississippi before arriving to Chicago in 1947. She soon started working on the campaign for Henry Wallace as well as being part of the tenant’s council to help ensure affordable housing. After a difficult marriage and divorce, she managed and raised her 3 children as well as finding a home and community at Third Unitarian Church. At age 60, she pursued her dream and became a clinical psychologist. She practiced clinical psychology for a time before becoming a teacher at Triton College where she also helped organize a union for the part-time faculty. She enjoys people, and feels fortunate to have such a tremendous group of friends and a wonderful family that she deeply loves.

Interviews