Jean Kline

At 18, Jean Zwack stepped out on her own after growing up with seven siblings in Hopkins, MN. With her sandals, jeans and a few miniskirts in a suitcase received as a not-so-subtle graduation gift from a crowded home, Jean was soon hired for a receptionist job in Edina, MN.

While modest pay kept Jean from a proper Minnesota winter wardrobe, the miniskirts likely helped catch the eye of coworker Mike Kline. Despite them both making questionable fashion choices in the 70s, Jean didn’t let Mike distract her from earning a promotion to Office Manager in just six months.

Despite being outnumbered by the persistent, intelligent, and skillful (not to mention thirsty) 100% German Zwacks, Mike soon found his second family with Jean’s. From matriarch Hilde pulling an all-nighter to win a 500 tournament, testing the family pontoon's weight capacity, or multiple Zwack siblings spending a night in jail after a miniskirt-instigated wedding incident, Mike saw firsthand Jean’s lifelong tradition of bringing everyone along for the party.

Jean and Mike were married on October 1st, 1977. Despite Mike’s bowhunting necessitating some creative scheduling, they celebrated nearly fifty anniversaries together.

They bought their first home in South Minneapolis and were robbed in the first week; Jean's Ithaca .22 rifle was never recovered. Between the state of the neighborhood and needing space for new sons Tony and Dennis, Jean and Mike soon moved to Plymouth, MN where they lived for more than four decades.

Mike worked at Graco whle Jean worked part time in offices and from home to be with the kids. They met families whose children would become the boys’ lifelong friends, with Mike supporting Jean's endless card nights and book clubs (which she swore was not just for wine and gossip). They were on a first name basis with every school principal, the only explanation for which must be Jean’s love of reading and the hundreds of books in her personal library. This came in handy when Jean had to educate Dennis's high school that an illness would in fact, NOT jeopardize his straight A record.

Jean always kept friends and family close in Plymouth (their move to Yorktown Place likely encouraged by the boys' friends gaining the door code to Quinwood Lane), the family cabin on Lake Beauty, and at Zwack Family Reunions at Lum Park in Brainerd. Jean always had a basket of Happy Meal toys, a tray or two of chocolate-covered Rice Krispy Treats, a bottle (yeah...it was a box) of wine, and a smile.

Kline activities included Cub Scouts, sports leagues, home improvement, and camping. Tony stayed in Scouting to earn Eagle Scout, while Dennis stuck with (and regularly dominated) wrestling, also taking Minnesota's pole vaulting championship in his senior year. Jean and Mike drove the boys to jobs started in junior high, though Dennis's first job was selling bags of bird poop for scaring girls while Tony’s was to argue Dennis’s "cases" to their parents - not realizing Dennis always stole his legal fees back.

Jean’s welcoming and forgiving nature, her farm-honed work ethic, a willingness to help, and issuing the occasional timeout on a kitchen stool (the de facto punishment after Tony prepared for a spanking by placing a hardcover book in his pants) prepared her sons to lead very different yet fulfilling lives.

Tony lives in Bloomington, MN at a house he completely gutted and remodeled with family and friend assistance. Jean’s influence can be seen an 800-book collection she helped start Tony start in grade school, a 200-foot retaining wall she commandeered a Bobcat to dig out, a dining table hand-made for a Mom-sized party, and a Lego collection including sets owned by three generations.

Tony's 24 years at Best Buy provided knowledge and discounts for an aggressively engineered home theater where Jean's “Sound of Music” and Tony's “Godzilla” are equally at home…though the latter gets far more screen time.

Dennis and his wife Mel started their journey together in New Jersey, New York, and Hawaii before moving to Boulder, CO. Despite multiple battles with a strict zoning department, they turned a rented lot into their own organic farm, home to daughter Leah, son Gavin, two cats, three goats, more than a hundred chickens, and soon, Mel’s mother Anita.

Mike and Jean travelled to Boulder often to improve and add to the house (including the 100-year old icebox from Quinwood), fill thousands of pots for the annual plant sale, explore the surrounding mountain trails, and their favorite - be “Oma” and “Opa” for their grandchildren. One of the strongest forces in Jean's life was the love she had for her family, both biological and chosen.

Jean's ability to enjoy life through gardening, pickleball, running marathons (when most her age were eying retirement), hosting parties, reading, building Legos, baking, or just chatting up a storm was omnipresent and always came with an invitation to join. She made friends easily and was always willing to pick up a power tool or snack tray as anyone in her circle needed.

Daughter, sister, wife, mother, Auntie Jeanie, Oma, party host/guest, confidant, defender, caregiver, helper, and friend. Please join us in celebrating Jean’s life by sharing your memories here, and in carrying her example forward with others.