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Obituary: Jean Christ Loken

Jean Christ Loken died peacefully on July 17, 2010. Jean was born on Feb 8, 1945 to Ingrid and John Christ. She attended the Hicksville schools graduating in 1962, graduated from Wagner College, Staten Island, and received a master’s in library science from Columbia University. She worked as a reference librarian at the Dakota County Libraries in Minnesota. In 1995, Jean made medical history by becoming the first Minnesotan to receive a Left Ventricular Assist Device after a massive heart attack, which sustained her for three months until she received a heart transplant. Jean was very active in transplant support groups and organ procurement organizations.

She was an avid quilter, winning prizes at both the county and state level and quilted for many charities. Recently, until her death, Jean devotedly served as the Minnesota coordinator of the Home of the Brave Quilt Project. This project honors families of fallen Minnesota soldiers who served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with a handmade Civil War reproduction quilt.

Jean is survived by her husband Steven; children, Robert and Diana; two grandchildren, her mother, Ingrid Christ Middleton of New Market, VA; sisters, Dorothy Lagerroos of Grand View, WI, and Sue Brown of Equinunk, PA; brothers, Rick Christ of New Market, VA, and Jerry Christ of Fitchburg, MA . Pictures of Jean’s life, her quilts, and her many passions can be found on the family website, www.sjloken.com.