Jean Elizabeth Billups, 83, of Burlington, passed away at Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center on Tuesday, October 14, 2025.
Born June 18, 1942, in Franklin Park, Ill., she was the daughter of Edward and Alma Brooks Rasmussen. Jean attended school in Stronghurst, where she participated in chorus and band, playing the clarinet. She graduated in 1960 as co-salutatorian of her class at Southern High School. On August 28, 1960, she married Ronald Dudley Billups in Stronghurst. They celebrated 50 years of marriage before he preceded her in death on June 8, 2011.
Jean and Ron raised their 3 children in Burlington, settling there permanently in 1976, when they opened their business, Billups Tire and Service. Jean was an integral part of the business, where she managed the accounting for four stores in three Iowa towns. Before computers, she ran the business ledgers on paper, using colored pencils to account for every hard-earned dollar.
She was an avid dog lover, and her family’s home was never without one or more dogs. Jean loved to read, shop, sew, and knit. Her knitting skills were extraordinary, and her handmade blankets, sweaters, scarves, and hats were highly sought after and always appreciated. Each and every item she knitted was made with the utmost amount of love and care, and impeccable attention to detail.
Jean’s greatest traits were her resilience and her ability to listen. Her quiet disposition often led people to believe she was docile; however, she was anything but that, especially when it came to caring for her family. Her youngest child, Christine, was diagnosed with leukemia in 2002, at the age of 35. For the next 13 years, Jean dedicated herself to her daughter’s care, which included regular hospital admissions nearly every month at The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City. In 2011, her husband, Ron, was also diagnosed with cancer, losing his battle within 5 months. There were times both Christine and Ron were admitted to separate hospitals, in different towns, at the same time, yet Jean’s quiet strength and perseverance never failed. Jean herself was a breast cancer survivor. Through it all, Jean remained positive and optimistic about the future.
Jean selected this passage from a poem entitled “Let Me Go” by Christina Georgina Rossetti:
“When I come to the end of the road
And the sun has set for me
I want no rites in a gloom-filled room
Why cry for a soul set free?
Miss me a little, but not for long
And not with your head bowed low.
Remember the love that we once shared
Miss me, but let me go.
For this is a journey that we all must take
And each must go alone.
It’s all part of the Master’s plan
A step on the road to home.
When you are lonely and sick at heart
Go to the friends we know
And bury your sorrow in doing good deeds.
Miss me, but let me go.”
Jean is survived by her oldest son, Jon (Mitty) of Burlington, her second son, Tom (Laurie) of Oakland, Calif.; grandsons, Dekker Billups of Burlington and Alex (Rita) Dehner of Omaha, Neb.; two great-grandsons, Evan and Caleb Dehner; sister-in-laws, Resa George (Greg) of Stronghurst, Ill., Diane Morrison of Mediapolis, Iowa, Loretta Billups of Green Bay, Wis. and Nori Rasmussen of Troy, Mo., and several beloved nieces, nephews, and great nieces and nephews.
Besides her husband, she was preceded in death by her parents, her daughter, Christine, her younger brother, Donald Rasmussen, brother-in-laws, Randy Billups and Harry Billups, and two nephews, Remy Billups and Mike Billups.
As per her wishes, no funeral services are planned. A private family inurnment will be held at a later date at Aspen Grove Cemetery. The family wishes to thank Lunning Funeral Chapel for their guidance with the cremation. A memorial has been established for the Des Moines County Humane Society.