Regina H Scarborough

Ten days after a laughter-filled, family celebration for her 100th birthday, Regina “Jean” Scarborough passed peacefully into the great mysteries of death at SpiriTrust Lutheran Village in York, PA.

Jean was the youngest of six siblings born to the late Hendrick and Regina (Minkema) Harmsen, who immigrated to the United States from The Netherlands in 1900. She was predeceased by all her siblings and their spouses: Jenny Newman (Arnold), Henry Harmsen (Adriana), John Harmsen (Eva), Martha Kievitt (Andrew), and Hazel Vida (John). She is survived by her daughter Debra, and her cat Sadie.

Regina was born in Passaic, NJ, but raised along the Delaware River in Bristol, PA, when her father transferred to a new factory of the Paterson Parchment Paper Company. She graduated from Bensalem High School in 1940, and earned an Associates degree from Rider College in 1942.

Upon his return from WWII, after piloting a B-17 that was shot down in a bombing raid over Germany and spending two years in a POW camp, Jean married her high school sweetheart John “Jack” Scarborough in 1945. They shared 62 years of marriage until Jack’s passing in 2007. They had one child, Debra Gena Scarborough of Gettysburg, PA.

In 1954, Jean and Jack built the “the house across from the lake” in Washington Crossing, PA. After flooding from Hurricane Hazel in 1955, they renovated and moved back in. Jean ran the household, raised Debra, and managed office duties for Jack’s custom-built homes business. Eventually she went back to work full-time as an executive secretary in the office of Henry Chauncey, the founder and president of Educational Testing Service in Princeton, NJ. She transferred to EDUCOM with Mr. Chauncey when he retired from ETS. Upon her own retirement in 1985, Jean and Jack moved to Stratford Harbor, near the Lee family ancestral estate on the Northern Neck of Virginia, where they continued to pursue their interests in gardening, sailing, and especially ballroom dancing. Throughout her life Jean also enjoyed collecting antiques, theater, camping, travelling throughout North America and Europe with Jack, and a succession of dogs and cats.

Five years ago, due to increasing health issues, Jean moved to Magnolia Manor at The Orchard in Warsaw, VA. During a break in the COVID lockdown she moved to SpiriTrust Lutheran Village at Gettysburg to be near her daughter. Later she transferred to their memory support care residence in York, PA. The family wishes to thank the nursing staff at Red Oak House for all their exceptional dedication and loving care of Jean in her last years.

Jean was a member of the Thompson Memorial Presbyterian Church in New Hope, PA, and later Ephesus Christian Church in Foneswood, VA. There will be no public viewing or service. Her cremains will be interred with her husband Jack’s in a private graveside service at Arlington National Cemetery in the coming year.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Jean’s name may be made to the American Red Cross, PO Box 3266, Lancaster, PA 17604, or to the Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter, 5051 Letterkenny Road West, Chambersburg, PA 17201.

Posted online on December 05, 2022

Published in Bucks County Courier Times