Jean Watkins Beckner, longtime Claremont resident, beloved librarian of rare books and amateur naturalist, passed away peacefully on October 4, 2025, surrounded by family. She was 98.

Born and raised in Greenwich, Connecticut, Jean was an accomplished sailor, often taking out her small sloop by herself. Her father, Richard Howells Watkins, was a journalist for the New York Sun (he covered early aviation) and writer of pulp fiction and youth adventure. Her mother, Mary (“Molly”) Cummerford Martin, was a homemaker; she was also a World War I Red Cross volunteer in England before immigrating to the US between the wars. They spent winters in Deerfield, Florida, were all avid birders, and enjoyed road trips and camping across the U.S.

Jean earned her bachelor’s degree in English (specializing in Jane Austin) from the University of Connecticut. After college, her family relocated to Santa Barbara, where she worked in several bookstores and met her future husband, Mort Beckner, then a zoology student at UCSB. After Mort moved to New York City to begin medical school at NYU, later switching to a doctoral program in philosophy at Columbia, she joined him there and they married in 1951. Their first child, Holly, was born in 1955. In 1957 they settled in Claremont where Mort began a long career teaching philosophy at Pomona College. Their son Douglas was born that year. Victoria was born a decade later in 1966.

Jean earned her master’s degree in library science at Cal State Fullerton, and went on to spend 35 years in Special Collections at Honnold Library of the Claremont Colleges. There, Jean organized donated manuscripts and holdings on various topics, such as the history of water rights in California and the western states. She also served as a trusted guide and pivotal resource to generations of scholars, students, and writers. In the pre-digital era—long before online catalogs or databases — researchers relied on her deep knowledge of the archives to locate rare books, manuscripts, letters, maps, and special or restricted artifacts. She took great pleasure in helping people discover forgotten texts and collections that might hold the key to a project. Colleagues remember her quiet patience, diligence and expertise; she retired in 2002.

Jean also played a crucial role in establishing the Claremont Heritage Foundation, assisting with efforts to document and preserve the city’s historic homes and cultural archives for many years.

A passionate naturalist, Jean volunteered for many years as a docent — and later a library volunteer — at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden (now the California Botanic Garden). She led wildflower walks, studied ethnobotany and plant classification, and in her fifties took up backpacking — often venturing into the Sierras with her small posse of female friends at a time before cell phones. She and Mort shared a lifelong love of the outdoors, leading their family on camping trips to the Eastern Sierra, desert sojourns to Anza-Borrego and Death Valley, and birding adventures in Costa Rica and Mexico.

In her home life, Jean began as a quintessential 1950s mother — raising her young children and hosting lively cocktail parties for new Pomona faculty. In 1963, the family spent a sabbatical year in London, with Mort lecturing at Oxford and the children attending an English primary school. Returning to the U.S. amid the Civil Rights movement and the Beatles’ arrival, Jean grew with the times, embracing liberal and environmental causes, and biking daily to Honnold as she embraced her career. In 1965, she and Mort bought their 12th Street home—still in the family — and filled it with books, bird feeders, and native plants. Their daughter Victoria’s birth in 1966 completed the family. Decades later, Jean once again became a caretaker when Holly and her two daughters, Lauren and Devon, moved back to Claremont. Two generations would attend Sycamore School, El Roble, and Claremont High School.

After Mort’s death in 2001, Jean continued to live in their Claremont home of 57 years, thanks to the devoted care of her daughter Holly. In 2022, Victoria and husband Russell Lemle took over her care, and moved Jean north to Marin County with the help of Lauren and Devon to be close to her entire family (Holly eventually followed). Jean continued to get her nature fix as loved ones took her on drives around the San Francisco Bay, spotting monkey flower and osprey nests, or watching the sailboats coast across the water. She remained herself until the end: warm, curious, playful, and full of gratitude.

Jean is survived by her three children, Holly Beckner of Petaluma and partner Ron Parker, Doug Beckner and daughter-in-law Sylvia Ford of San Francisco, and Victoria Beckner and son-in-law Russell Lemle of Mill Valley; her granddaughters Lauren Magaña and partner Levi Williams, and Devon Magaña and partner Kenny Lehr; and step-grandchildren Kyle Lemle, Casey Vella and husband Ed Vella, and great-grandson Madison Vella.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the California Botanic Garden or the Sierra Club. If you have a memory or picture to share with the family, please email Victoria:  beckner@sfpsychology.com.