Jean Isabel Thorsten (McCrea) Service Information

Jean McCrea Thorsten, long-time resident of Montgomery and Bucks County, PA, died at Pine Run Health Center in Doylestown.  She was 90 years old.

Born in Chestnut Hill, PA, Jean was the daughter of Anastasia (Lawlor) and Andrew James McCrea. She is pre-deceased by three of her five sisters, Mary Monahan, Carole Caputo and Anna Walsh.

Jean described the happiest times in her life as those spent with her children, grandchildren and family.  Jean also had a passion for learning, whether through formal education or on her own and she enjoyed sharing it with others. 

Jean graduated from Germantown High School and later earned her B.A. in History and M.Ed. in Education as a PA-certified Reading Specialist from Temple University while a full-time working mom with three children still at home, an accomplishment she was very proud of.  She retired from Temple University as a long-time Office Manager and taught English and ESL Reading at Montgomery County Community College and Temple’s Ambler campus where she made many friends and impacted the success of hundreds of students.  She also worked at the Ambler Public Library as Library Assistant, a job she loved.   At home, Jean was an avid reader, accomplished seamstress and unrivaled, green-thumb gardener who was seldom idle and always eager to learn and share something new.  She instilled a lifelong love of reading and storytelling in her daughters and grandchildren.  She was also the confidante her family could rely on when life became complicated.

Jean will be missed greatly by her children, Lisa Thorsten Coccetti (Kevin), Laura Thorsten and Lynn Thorsten Palumbo; her five grandchildren, Anastasia, Brian, Charles, Alexander and Marissa and numerous extended family members and friends.  She is also survived by her sisters, Eleanor Borigini and Barbara McCrea, and many nieces and nephews.

Relatives and friends are invited to celebrate Jean’s life with family on Saturday, February 15, 2020, from 1:00 until the start of her prayer service at 3:00 at Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church, 615 Cowpath Rd., Montgomeryville, PA.  Her interment will take place privately at a later date.

The family requests that memorial donations be made in Jean’s name to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research https://www.michaeljfox.org.

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