Jean Kinser Cooper Carey, 86, of Denver, Colorado, passed away on December 27, 2022 after a courageous battle with multiple myeloma. Jean was born on May 8, 1936 to Howard and Virginia Kinser in Oklahoma City, OK. Her childhood was spent in Newton, KS and she graduated from Newton High School in 1954. She began college at University of Kansas and enjoyed an active sorority life as a Kappa Alpha Theta.

She met and married John Cooper in 1956. Although she had wanted to study journalism, she shifted to primary education in order to better support them while he was in medical school. His developing career led them to relocate to a variety of military bases as their family grew, eventually settling in Greeley, Colorado. Their family included four children, Jane (Brion Baker), Jeff (Debbie), Jim (Kim) and Jill (Matt Buchanan) and 10 grandchildren: Betsy, Grant, Scott, Alex, Kyle, Ben, Ryan, Joe, Caroline and Caroline.

While living in Greeley, Jean enrolled in Iliff School of Theology. She drove a yellow, convertible VW bug to her classes in Denver. She later moved to Denver and built a successful private Marriage and Family Therapy practice where she helped hundreds of couples and individuals over the years.

In 1987 she met the love of her life, Jack Carey, while he was training for the Ride the Rockies bike ride. They married in 1988 and her family expanded to include his four children: Marc (Mary Jo Brooks), Jeff, Ann (Basil Sabbah), and Julie (Andy Hutchinson) and six grandchildren: Maddie, Jack, Dylan, Emma, Isabel, and Ally. Jack and Jean lived together in their home in the Lowry neighborhood of Denver for almost 25 years where they relished family get-togethers and visiting with neighbors from their front porch.

Jean loved to write and completed two novels, Two Truths and a Lie and Cul de Sac . She enjoyed reading, planting flowers in the spring, hiking and making road trips. She was an active member of the Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church. She had many circles of friends including writing groups, neighborhood groups, and a special gang of women who met on Friday mornings for coffee and conversation. Above all else, Jean treasured her family. At every opportunity she and Jack traveled to visit them, attended grandchildren's school performances, sporting events and more, and she never missed a single birthday, always remembering to send a card and a special gift.

Jean is survived by her sister, Nancy Kinser, of Fort Worth, Texas and devoted husband, Jack Carey, of Denver, Colorado, seven children and 16 grandkids.

A celebration of Jean's life will be held Saturday, March 11, 2023 at 2:00pm at Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church, 1980 Dahlia St., Denver, CO 80220, reception to follow. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to The Denver Hospice at https://thedenverhospice.org/ donation/ in Jean's name.