School worker and mother succumbs after a long battle with mental illness
Both Los Gatos, Saratoga feel loss
By Leigh Ann Maze
Jean Toombs, a longtime Los Gatos resident and health aide at Redwood Middle School in Saratoga, apparently took her own life on May 22, after suffering many years from a mental illness. The loss has affected both the Los Gatos and Saratoga communities, of which Toombs was an integral part.
"It's been tough, very tough," said Fred Toombs, Jean's husband, from the couple's Los Gatos home. They lived there with their 11-year-old daughter.
Following the death, the Toombs' home was filled with close friends and relatives, many of whom flew in from St. Louis, Mo., where Toombs was born, raised and attended college.
The family has lived in Los Gatos and attended St. Mary's Church since 1985.
"She just loved Los Gatos," Fred Toombs said. Jean Toombs, a 44-year-old registered nurse, was completing her first year as a part-time health aide at Redwood Middle School, according to Redwood principal Christopher Farmer. She was responsible for keeping all of the students' health records and providing nursing and medications to students. She was very well-known and liked by the many students and staff with whom she worked, Farmer said.
Redwood teachers shared the news with their students during sixth period, and a team of counselors and psychologists were on campus to provide support, Farmer said.
"She was a very kind and gentle lady," Farmer said. "She combined the brisk efficiency of a trained nurse with the care and love of a mother. She will be very missed at Redwood."
Before working at Redwood, Toombs also worked for several years as an instructional aide for second- and fourth-grade students at Blossom Hill School in Los Gatos, where her daughter has attended since kindergarten, according to principal Wendy Wardlow. Counselors were also on hand there to provide support.
A Jean Toombs Memorial Scholarship has been set up at Blossom Hill, Wardlow said. The scholarship will help fifth-grade students attend the annual four-day Walden West Science Camp which costs just under $200 per student. Toombs' fifth-grade daughter looks forward to attending the camp this week, Fred Toombs said.
The staff at Redwood is discussing how to best memorialize Toombs at their school.
A Rosary service was held at St. Mary's Church in Los Gatos on May 25. A memorial service was held there on the following day.
"Jean was an active and vital member of the school community as a parent and as an instructional aide," Wardlow said. "She was very, very loved."
The Toombs family says donations may also be made to Alliance for Community Care at 2001 The Alameda, San Jose, 95126.
Los Gatos, California Since 1881
