Eugenia (Jean) P. Schlatter

Eugenia P. Schlatter, 91, passed on Dec. 6, 2022, in Melbourne, Fla.

Eugenia (Jean) was born Sept. 3, 1931 in Minneapolis, Minn., to Henry and Genevieve (Boylan) Poehler. She and her family moved to Menomonie, Wis., where she attended grades 1-7. Her father, a traveling salesman, moved the family to Havre in 1944 since it was more centrally located to his clients. Jean graduated from Havre High School in 1949.

After graduation she attended Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash., where she majored in mathematics, one of only two female math majors at that time. She graduated with a BA in Mathematics in 1953.

After graduation she returned to Montana and took a teaching job in Great Falls. While in Great Falls she became reacquainted with a high school classmate, Richard H. Schlatter, who was also returning to Montana after a stint with the U.S. Air Force band in Washington, D.C. In 1954 they united in marriage in Havre.

Richard and Jean made their first home in Bozeman; Jean taught math and English in the Bozeman chool district while Richard finished undergraduate and graduate studies at Montana State University in music.

In 1957 they moved to Polson, where they both were educators in the Polson school system. Jean taught math at the high school and junior high levels while Richard managed the high school and junior high band programs.

Their family was started in Polson with the birth of both of their sons. In 1968, they again moved, this time to Kalispell where they again both taught in the Flathead school system. Jean initially taught junior high at the Linderman building before moving to the new Junior High School where she eventually became head of the junior high mathematics department.

Jean taught math in Kalispell until her retirement in 1988 and remained in the valley until 2004 when she moved to Virginia to be closer to her family. While in Virginia she became a mentor for new teachers entering the Northern Virginia school system. In 2014, she followed family to Florida.

Jean enjoyed music, travel, playing bridge and needlework but relished her time spent with family and her pets. She was an active member of the Episcopal Church and PEO. In addition, she was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), Eastern Star, Alpha Phi Sorority and the American Association of University Women.

Jean was preceded in death by her parents and Richard; Richard passed in 1987.

She is survived by sons Philip (Ranell) of Melbourne, Fla., and Richard H. Jr. (Wini) of Hilton Head, S.C., and grandchildren Peter, Stasia, Marie, Harry and Sam.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Shriner’s Crippled Children’s Hospital in Spokane or the Flathead Valley Animal Shelter.

There will be a memorial service at Christ Church Episcopal in Kalispell, followed by internment at the Conrad Cemetery at 11 a.m. Jan. 7.