Jean Kebert O’Hara, 1960
Ten years after graduation Jean found herself in Tampa, FL with three young children, one year of college, divorced, without support from her ex-husband, and little public assistance. She did what she had to do: worked two jobs, qualified as a paralegal, and raised her children on her own. She proudly notes that two of her three children have master’s degrees. The experience as a female head of household was not common when Jean faced this challenge, and there were few resources, even in the schools, to help Jean and her children. She developed a strong self-reliance that has stayed with her.
Although this was a tough environment, she took away lessons in hard work and goal-oriented discipline that supported her as she moved forward. After Jean and her new husband moved to California in 1989, she decided to combine her love of animals with a new vocation by taking training in animal grooming. She wanted to own her business and have more control over her own destiny. When she moved to Colorado in 1993, she opened as a sole proprietorship a pet grooming business with a related teaching program. She showed her flair for marketing, naming her first grooming business Groomingdale’s and a subsequent business, Central Bark. She developed a website to reach out to potential clients beginning in the mid-1990’s. Her business grew from no customers to more than 3,000 in ten years. Her private occupational school was especially popular, and with her website she attracted students from several foreign countries as well as local areas.
During the time in Colorado a new love entered Jean’s life, the Bouvier des Flandres breed of dogs. Jean acquired her first 
one to protect their smaller dogs when she lived in the mountains, and her second was the champion The Great Gatsby, that she raised from a pup. For ten years Jean showed him all over the country, including at the Westminster Kennel Club Show in New York. He was the second-ranked dog in the US in 2001. Her dogs helped soften the effects of 9/11 and its aftermath, as well as a divorce from her second husband in 2001. When Gatsby’s show career ended, he became a prolific sire.
Long hours, the stress of running the business on her own, and the desire to return to Tampa to be near her children led her to the decision to sell her business in 2007. She took Gatsby, another Bouvier and two Brussels Griffon dogs with her. Gatsby died last year in 2009. In Tampa she encountered economic problems that many have experienced, a difficult job market and the stock market collapse. As a result, she became dependent on her daughter for support, but decided to take matters into her own hands, again showing her grit and resilience.
Jean identified a new career that was expanding – medical billing and coding, and went back to school to learn the craft. At 68, she said, “For the first time in my life, I put forth my best efforts in my studies. I was amazed that I had great power of retention. Getting 100% on tests was new to me. I felt good about myself and my self-confidence went through the roof.”
Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series on Women in the Workplace, reported by Dave Kroenlein and originally published in “The Messenger” for our 60th class reunion.
Jean participated in many activities at East. The 1960 yearbook contains the photo below with a caption indicating that she is commiserating over report cards with Carolyn Wharton (left). Can that be true? Who did that?
