Jean Dill

Mary “Jean” Dill, a resident of Highland, MI was received into the open arms of Jesus Thursday, March 10, 2022. She was 89 years of age. Jean was a faithful woman who loved the Lord, her family, church, and community. Jean was a proud Texan, born in Wichita Falls, TX on February 4, 1933, a daughter of the late Fred and Ruby Reagan. Jean is survived by her children, Jarold Carlton, Lynn Rosik, Cherie Carlton, and Michelle Dadich (Joe), her grandchildren, Tiffany Arnone (Steve), Crystal Carlton, Brittany Cook (Rob), Brandon Rosik, Brooke King (Austin) and her great grandchildren Bella, Scarlett, Grayce Reagan, Summer, Camryn and Reid. She is preceded in death by her daughter Marie Carlton, and husband John Dill. She is also preceded in death by her sisters, Virginia, and Peggy, and brothers Billy, and Richard. She is also survived by many nieces and nephews. Jean was a loving and compassionate Christian woman who loved everyone, and many people called her “Mom #2” because she took them in under her wing and showed motherly love to them. She loved being involved with her church family putting on fancy dinners, helping out in the kitchen by serving coffee and donuts, being a Secret Sister, and a Prayer Mother. She loved family game nights. Some of her favorite games were Catch-Phrase, Yahtzee, Aggravation, Bunko, Scrabble and Chinese Checkers. But what she really loved the most about game nights was the sound of laughter and having all of her family under the same roof, because she was really about spending time with her family. Family to Jean included everyone, whether related or not. She also loved playful competition, and you knew things were getting serious when she started standing during a game so that she could “see better”. Jean loved to laugh and always looked for humor. Her life was not always easy, but she always looked at the bright side and made jokes often. Jean had many funny stories over the years, like the time all her hair fell out, or when she lost her skirt in the middle of San Francisco, or when she had to stop a train, or when she broke her front tooth out on April Fool's Day. Those were just a few funny escapades in her life. She had a real gift of cheering up others, even in a bad situation she could get others to laugh and see the bright side of any given situation. Jean was a real people person who loved being with friends and never met a stranger. As she grew older, Jean joined a Bunko club and then the Red Hat Society while maintaining her friendships with the ladies right until the very end. Jean was a ball of energy and a hard worker. She worked for numerous bakeries while managing several of them, and she worked both as a secretary and a payables clerk. She retired from DME after 17 years to take care of her husband. She took on a little side hustle later working at a Metro Detroit Trade Show serving food to all the vendors and buyers while in her 80s because she loved to be around people sharing her funny stories and the gospel of Jesus. Jean was always available day or night to talk or to help anyone with something if anyone needed her. She never turned anyone away who needed prayer, encouragement or simply someone to sit with, even if there was nothing to say. Jean stayed up many, many nights of her life with endless energy to finish whatever she started. She always gave credit to the Lord for giving her the strength needed to do anything. Her strong will to live, unwavering faith in God, and the love and prayers of family, friends, and many supporters carried her through life. In her last four months of grueling medical issues, she still continued to reach out to others affected by illnesses and grief, and she always was sending cards to encourage them. She loved her card ministry and everyone who received a card from her felt so blessed with her words of encouragement. No day started without prayer, and somedays she had two hours in even before the sun came up. She kept a long running list of people she prayed for, some who did not even know that she prayed for them daily, while others knew and were so very thankful for her prayers, some even joking that she had a “Hotline” to Jesus. Her prayers and genuine words of encouragement, generosity, love, and advice meant so much to so many people, and it is that loving spirit that will live on through all the lives Jean touched. Visitation is Saturday March 26th from 9:30 to 11:30 and Funeral Service at 11:30 at Community Christian Church 42400 Ryan Road, Sterling Heights, MI. In the spirit of Jean and her giving and compassion, in lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations to be made to Community Christian Church’s missions fund, to help drill fresh water wells in Cambodia this year.

Jean Dill

February 4, 1933 - March 10, 2022