Roberta Jean Silverthorn

Roberta Jean (Orwan) Silverthorn, 92, of Earlham, passed away peacefully on Sunday, January 1, 2023, at Southern Hills Specialty Care in Osceola.

A visitation will be held from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m., Friday, January 6, 2023 at Caldwell Parrish Funeral Home, Winterset Chapel. Burial will follow in the Worthington Cemetery. Online condolences may be expressed to the family at www.caldwellparrish.com.

Jean was born October 15, 1930, in Dayton, Iowa to Lewis E and Edith M (Greene) Orwan. She lived in Dayton for 3 ½ years until her family moved to Lorimor, Iowa. Jean graduated from Lorimor High School in 1949 where she excelled as a guard on the girls’ basketball team.

On June 2, 1949, Jean married Philip H. Silverthorn at the Little Brown Church in Nashua, Iowa. Jean and her husband made their home outside of Earlham on the family’s Heritage Farm. She was an active member of the Worthington Church. They moved into Earlham for 16 years, and then returned to the farm in 1979 when Jean retired from the Earlham School as a beloved cook. In addition to working for the school, she cooked at Bentler’s Truck Stop and the Earlham Nursing Home. Anyone who visited Jean at her home knew they better come hungry because they would never go home with an empty stomach.

Jean, along with her husband, raised four children, Linda, Jack (Nancy), Mark (Suzanne), and Larry (Laura) Silverthorn. Jean enjoyed cooking and spending time with family the most; especially her grandchildren, Steve (Jennifer), Clete (Haley), Amanda (Dustin) Daugherty, Prather (Laura), Tyler (Kristi), and Derek (Haley) Silverthorn, and great-grandchildren, Breonna, Colten, Sadie, Katelyn, Kylee, Spencer, Mason, Charlotte Jean, as well as a host of nieces and nephews.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Lewis and Edith (Greene) Orwan; husband, Philip; son, Jack; brothers, Bill (Maxine) and Frank (Lurene) Orwan; and sisters, Lois (Clyde) Umsted, Kate (Sam) Cooper, and Betty Lou Orwan.

Jean’s family would like to thank Southern Hills Specialty Care and Care Initiatives Hospice for their loving attention. Memorials may be directed to the Earlham Fire and Rescue.