Jean Armstrong McIvor's Obituary
Jean Marie Armstrong McIvor, 57, died June 11th after her battle with cancer. She was born September 16, 1957, in Nashville, the 4th of 6 children to Luther and Providence Armstrong. Moving to Memphis at 8, Jean attended St. Paul’s and Bishop Byrne High School in Whitehaven. On June 25, 1977, at the age of 19, Jean married her loving husband, Bobby. Throughout their nearly 38 years of marriage, Jean and Robert were a living example of true love. Though Jean always had a work project, or three, she always made time to be a devoted mother, wife, daughter, sister, and friend. From an early age, Jean knew that her life’s passion was to be a nurse. Jean graduated from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock with her Bachelors in Nursing in 1980 and earned her Masters in Nursing as a Pediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist from UTHSC. She later received a post master’s certificate as a Family Nurse Practitioner. Jean was active in the Memphis Beta-Theta Chapter-at-large of the nursing honor society Sigma Theta Tau, serving in many roles, including Chapter President. She worked as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner in the Well Baby Nursery at the Regional Medical Center. After several years of working as a school nurse for the Shelby County Health Department, Professor McIvor began her career as a nursing instructor at the University of Memphis in 1998, where she inspired hundreds of nurses with her professionalism and compassion. Jean humbly served the neediest children in Memphis and Shelby County and worked with Memphis Catholic Jubilee Schools, Head Start, Safe Kids Mid-South, Memphis Park Commission, and others. Recently, she volunteered her time as a Nurse Practitioner at Juvenile Court. In May 2015, Jean received the DAISY Award for Faculty, a sign of her compassion and inspiration to her students. Jean is preceded in death by her parents, and her brother-in-law, Jean Rousseau. She leaves behind her husband, Robert McIvor, Jr., and her two children, Carrie and Stephen, her mother- and father-in-law, Robert and Jane McIvor, Sr., her sister, Sandy Rousseau, her four brothers, Chip Armstrong and wife Meredith, Guy Armstrong and wife Cathy, Mike Armstrong and wife Linda, and Drew Armstrong and wife Jayme, and her two brothers-in law, Mike McIvor and wife Michelle, and Tim McIvor and wife Suzanne, all of Memphis, TN. She also leaves behind many loving nieces, nephews, cousins, and extended family. Visitation will be held at Memorial Park Funeral Home on Sunday evening, June 14th from 5-7:30 with a Rosary at 7PM. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at the Church of Holy Spirit on Monday, June 15th at 10am. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Safe Kids Mid-South c/o LeBonheur Children’s Foundation, P.O. Box 41817, Memphis, TN, 38174.Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Memorial Park Funeral Home and Cemetery, 5668 Poplar Ave. Memphis, TN 38119, (901) 767-8930, “Behind the Stone Wall.”
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