Jewel Dean (Brigman) Icard

Jewel Dean Brigman Icard

February 16, 1937 - September 14, 2021

Dean's life of service ended Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021. Dean spent most of her childhood in the mill village of Kannapolis. At a very young age, she became the maternal presence in the lives of her younger brothers and sisters. Others later came under her motherly wing and she never relinquished this role.

Most Sunday mornings, beginning when she was about 10 years old, Dean walked her brothers and sister to North Kannapolis Baptist Church. Here she found a sense of community, love and caring that would define her life. When she was 13 years old, Dean met a skinny bespectacled 15 year old boy named Jimmy Icard. During high school, this boy and Dean fell in love.

At the insistence of her then boyfriend and his family, Dean did what had seemed impossible for a girl who lived in such poverty. She enrolled at Mars Hill Junior College. She loved the mountains and made lifelong friends there. It didn't hurt that she was able to abandon the family outhouse and enjoy indoor plumbing for the first time in her life. Upon receiving her Associates Degree at Mars Hill, Dean enrolled at Meredith College, where she graduated with a degree in Home Economics.

Shortly after graduation, she married her high school sweetheart, Jimmy Icard and they moved into their first apartment in Laurel, Md. Both Dean and Jim taught in the public schools there for a number of years. Their first born son arrived in February of 1961. Having survived harsh winters and the Cuban missile crisis the family headed back south to Charlotte. There, Jim taught at Myers Park High School and Dean cared for her new son. Shortly after their move, a second son arrived in October 1965.

In 1975, having completed an additional year of college coursework, she was certified in elementary education and began teaching kindergarten in the Charlotte Mecklenburg School system; first at Plaza Road Elementary and then Reedy Creek. Dean was always most comfortable in her kindergarten classroom. Her command of a room full of five year old children was unparalleled. She gave all who she taught discipline, love, kindness and knowledge.

After she turned 50, Dean enrolled at UNC Charlotte, where she earned a master's degree in education while still teaching full time. While there, she was offered a trip to Bermuda as part of a marine biology class. Snorkeling was to be a large part of the class, but she had never learned to swim. For the next six months she took swimming lessons at the YMCA and miraculously made the trip. Her first time being in the ocean with sea turtles, colorful fish, dolphins and other marine life was an experience she reveled in for the rest of her life. She had a deep love of the ocean and was able to spend many weeks of her retirement years at Ocean isle Beach.

She is survived by her husband of 63 years, Jimmy W. Icard; sons, Dr. Mark W. Icard and his wife, Pam, Bradford F. Icard, Esq. and his wife, Kara, grandchildren; Luke, Matt (wife, Karsynn), Noah, Nate, Lilly (Icard); and great-grandson, Lawson Icard.

Dean accomplished what many say is impossible, she gave what she never received as a child (especially to all the children in her life). She loved, nurtured and encouraged her family all her life. She left the world a better place than she found it.

Well done mom. We are all so proud to have had you in our lives and we carry your loving spirit with us every day.

Dean requested that there not be a public service.

In lieu of flowers, please make donation to the children's charity of your choice.