Paleonet: Dr. Jean Demouthe

[Peter Roopnarine]

Dear colleagues,

It is with great sadness that I announce the passing of Dr. Jean Demouthe,
Senior Collections Manager of Geology at the California Academy of
Sciences. Jean had been battling illness for the past two years, and
several weeks ago took a turn for the worse. She passed away peacefully at
home, on Friday October 20th, 2017, surrounded by her family and several
friends.

Jean worked at the Academy for 44 years, first as a curatorial assistant,
and later the collections manager of the geological collections. Her
responsibilities included management of the paleontology,
micropaleontology, diatom, mineralogy, and meteorite collections. She was
hired by Dr. Peter Rodda, then Curator of Paleontology, and at the time of
her interview informed him that if we hired her it would be permanent,
we would not get rid of her. We never did. Anyone who worked with Jean knew
that she was a model of dedication to collections, geology (particularly
minerals), and the science of collections care and management. Her
knowledge of specimen care is unsurpassed.

In addition to her role at the Academy, Jean was a licensed geologist in
the state of California, and worked as a consulting engineering geologist
in San Mateo County, at one time. serving as County Geologist there. After
earning her Bachelors in Geology from Humboldt State, she earned a Masters
in education at CSU Bakersfield and an EDD at UC Berkeley. Late in her
career she taught courses at City College of San Francisco and San
Francisco State University. She was a member of several organizations and
an officer in some, including the Society for Mineral Museum Professionals
and the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections. She
authored several works, a recent one being

Natural materials: Sources, properties, and uses, by Jean Frances
DeMouthe. (2006).
Burlington, MA: Architectural Press. ISBN-13: 978-0750665285

Jean was at the same time a fierce, honest, and generous person, with a
unique (and good) sense of humour. She was mentor to undergraduate and
graduate students, curatorial assistants, and fellow collections managers.
The many visiting researchers to our collections can testify to Jean's
willingness to do everything within her powers to assist our guests. She
was dear to the hearts of her colleagues in the Department of Invertebrate
Zoology & Geology, including my fellow curators Drs. Terry Gosliner, Rich
Mooi and Gary Williams, emeritus curator Dr. Peter Rodda, former curator
and executive director Dr. Patrick Kociolek, and her fellow collections
managers Dr. Robert Van Syoc and Ms. Christina Piotrowski. The Geology
section has been reduced very rapidly to myself, my lab, and Jean's
curatorial assistant Miss Maricela Abarca. We will miss her terribly. She
kept me honest.

Sincerely,

Dr. Peter D. Roopnarine, Curator of Geology
Department of Invertebrate Zoology & Geology
Institute for Biodiversity Science and Sustainability
California Academy of Sciences
55 Music Concourse Drive
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco CA 94118

Phone: (415) 379-5271
FAX: (415) 379-5732
WWW:
https://www.calacademy.org/staff/ibss/invertebrate-zoology-and-geology/peter-roopnarine
Twitter: @peterroopnarine
Blogs: http://www.calacademy.org/blogs/
http://proopnarine.wordpress.com
"If I could explain it to the average person, I wouldn't have been worth
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