Jean Lynn Gustavsen

Jean Lynn Gustavsen was born in Gatesville, Texas on October 18,1949 to her loving parents, John and Etta (Pruett) Newman, and passed away peacefully on December 2, 2025, in Tyler, Texas, after a courageous battle with cancer.

Her family moved to Angleton when she was five, and Jeanie grew up on Chenango Street. She attended Angleton High School, playing basketball and serving as head cheerleader. After being elected Homecoming Queen and Football Sweetheart, she graduated with the class of 1968. After graduation she began working at First National Bank in Angleton, where her hard work, care, and dedication to her community led to a successful thirty-year career in banking. She shared her expertise and knowledge with the community at banks such as Allied, Compass, First Heights, Wells Fargo, and First National Bank of Texas in Clear Lake, where she served as Vice President. Eventually she branched out into financial planning at Merrill Lynch and the Texas Dow Employees Credit Union, and then into insurance, running her own successful Farmers Insurance Agency in Angleton until her retirement in 2020.

Through her business she became part of the Angleton Chamber of Commerce and was particularly fond of working with Actions, Inc., of Brazoria County and the food pantry. She was part of the Brazoria County Fair Association and a member of the Angleton Study Club. She was also an active member of the Angleton Alumni Association, serving on the board from 2016 to 2021, and acting as a representative for the class of 1968.

Jeanie loved her community and her friends. loved catching up with friends, and she was always on the go and loved to travel. The Cayman Islands were a favorite destination for her and her husband, Jesse. They both loved the water, and boating was a favorite pastime. When she wasn’t on the water, she enjoyed reading.

While she was dedicated to her work and community, she was most dedicated to her family. She loved spending time with her parents, sisters, and their extended families, and enjoyed her husband Jesse’s extended family as well. Her daughter and granddaughters were the light of her life, and she was never happier than when spending time with them. She loved being their Gigi and attended her granddaughters’ various sporting events, plays, and school awards ceremonies, cheering them on proudly.

Jeanie was preceded in death by her parents, John and Etta Newman; her husband, Jesse Graham; her brother-in-law, Clyde Jones; and her nephew and niece, Joel and Gena Johnson. She is survived by her daughter, Hollis Gustavsen Knode, and son-in-law, Eric; granddaughters, Cate and Claire Knode; Jesse’s son and daughter-in-law, Jesse and Danielle Graham and their children; sisters, Donna Newman Johnson, Nancy Jones Hocker, and Jan Newman Carter; and many nieces, nephews, and friends.

A memorial service led by Jeanie’s brother-in-law, Robert Carter, will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 6, 2025, at Northway Baptist Church,1421 Buchta Road in Angleton. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Angleton Alumni Association in her name. Donations can be sent to the Alumni Association at P.O. Box 122, Angleton, Texas, 77516.