JEAN CARTER HIESTAND, JR.

Jean Carter Hiestand Jr., died on June 26, 2017 at Bishop Gadsden Retirement Center in Charleston, South Carolina at the age of 95. He will be remembered as a man of great intellect, passion and integrity who was devoted to, loved and served his family and country.

Mr. Hiestand was born in LeRoy (now Westfield Center) Ohio, a small town in Medina County, on June 5, 1922, the son of Jean Carter Hiestand, Sr. and Helen Odaffer Hiestand. He graduated from Westfield High School in LeRoy in 1939; Culver Military Academy in Culver, Indiana in 1941, and began attending Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio. His education was interrupted by three years of service in the Army Air Corps during World War II. Following the end of the war, Mr. Hiestand returned to Ohio Wesleyan where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, in 1946. At college, he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Kappa honorary societies and Sigma Chi fraternity, serving as president of his Sigma Chi chapter. Also at Ohio Wesleyan, he met Virginia “Ginny” Wightman Hiestand, who would become his beloved wife of more than 69 years. They married on December 27, 1947 and moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts where Mr. Hiestand received an LLB degree from Harvard Law School in 1949.

Mr. Hiestand’s legal career began in Dayton, Ohio, where he was in private practice for three years. He then developed a national reputation in the insurance field, receiving the CPCU designation. After working ten years with the Ohio Farmers Insurance Companies and three years as Deputy Director of Insurance for the State of Ohio, he joined the Corporate Law Department of State Farm Insurance Companies in Bloomington, Illinois in 1965. At State Farm, he built the Law Department and lobbied for numerous safety features, including airbags, before he retired in 1989 as Vice President and General Counsel.

Following retirement in 1989, he and Ginny moved to Kiawah Island, South Carolina, where they had owned property for many years. He continued to serve State Farm as a member of the board of directors of State Farm Indemnity Company of New Jersey and was a volunteer in the AARP/Internal Revenue Service’s program, Tax Counseling for the Elderly, for 11 years. In 2004, Jean and Virginia moved to Bishop Gadsden.

A life-long lover of music, Mr. Hiestand played instruments, sang in and directed choirs, and attended numerous musical events over the years, including Charleston Spoleto. He was a longtime supporter of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra. In addition to classical music, he loved jazz and presented several programs at Bishop Gadsden on jazz of the 1920s, 30s and 40s, particularly big band jazz.

Jean Hiestand was active in the Boy Scouts of America, attaining the rank of Eagle Scout, and he served as an adult counselor for many years. He was active in his churches as a member of various committees and as a volunteer choir director for several years in the Methodist Episcopal Church, Leroy, Ohio. Jean was an avid golfer, achieving two holes-in-one during his lifetime, the second one when he was 85 years old. The Hiestands loved traveling, and throughout their lives, visited all continents except Antarctica. They traveled extensively with friends and family and took each of their grandchildren with them on special trips.

Mr. Hiestand was a loving father to for children Christine Heist Holland (Willis Marshall), Nancy Lynn Hiestand (James Jennings), Jean Carter Hiestand III and Barbara Hiestand Ledford. He was a devoted grandfather to nine grandchildren: Craig Wellman Bode (Karen Bischoff), Christian Hiestand McClellan (Margarita “Daisy” Bandera-Duplantier), Ashley Helen Hiestand, Carrie Lynn Holland, Margaret Emily Hiestand, Lauren Holland Carter (Christopher “Kit”), Carter Joseph Ledford, Kyle David Ledford and Kaitlyn Nicole Ledford; and great-grandfather to grandson, Hunter Jean McClellan. He is also survived by his brother William Charles Hiestand and his wife Martha.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday July 1, 2017 at 10:30 at Bishop Gadsden Memorial Chapel. Burial will take place at Westfield Center, Ohio. In lieu of flowers gifts may be made to the Boy Scouts of America, 1325 West Walnut Hill Lane, Irving, Texas 75015 or the Bishop Gadsden Resident Assistance Fund, One Bishop Gadsden Way, Charleston, SC 29412.