Cecile Colin Jurmain

Cecile Colin Jurmain died peacefully on April 27, 2015 after a 15-year battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. She was 91.

The daughter of Leon and Gertrude (Nesbit) Colin, she was born in New York City and spent her early years on City Island, N.Y.  After graduating from high school in New Rochelle, N.Y., she attended Radcliffe College, where she majored in physics and optics. It was there she met and married her husband of 60 years, the late Jacob (Jack) Jurmain and became one of the first women at Radcliffe to register for fall classes with a baby in tow. Together Cecile and Jack and their family pursued an active lifestyle, including camping, hiking, skiing, boating, and traveling throughout the world.

During World War II, Cecile supported the war effort by designing lenses and gun sights for Polaroid in Rochester, N.Y. After the war, she dedicated her energy to supporting her husband’s nomadic career as a rocket scientist as she raised their four children. She taught math and physics for many years in the California, Nevada, and Massachusetts public schools and later established a successful sailboat charter business on the Chesapeake Bay that she and Jack named “Seajay” after her own initials. Always friendly and outgoing, she enjoyed the company of her family and her grandchildren above all else. Throughout her life, she was an avid knitter, voracious reader and, in her later years, a skilled jigsaw puzzle enthusiast.

Cecile is survived by her loving family: Peter and Diane Jurmain of Millis, Mass.; Elizabeth and William Kirnie of Norfolk, N.Y.; Pauline and William Walker of Braintree, Mass.; and  Richard and Mary Jurmain of Eau Claire, Wis. Her grandchildren include Meredith Wills, Lauren Libitz, Rev. Jonathan Wills, Matthew Richenburg, Jacob Jurmain, and Ariel Jurmain. She has two great grandchildren, Leonidas Richenburg and Cassius Richenburg.

Please join us in saying goodbye to Cecile and celebrating her life on Friday, May 1, 2015 at the Keohane Funeral Home, 785 Hancock St., Quincy. Calling hours are 4 to 7 p.m. followed by a ceremony of remembrance officiated by Rev. Wills at 7 p.m.

In lieu of flowers we ask that you consider a donation to the Alzheimer’s Association of MA/NH (http://www.alz.org/manh/) or your favorite charity.