Jean Kaylor

Jean Martin Kaylor, age 87, most recently of Columbia, Maryland, passed away at home on January 22, 2026. Jean Laurita Gibson was born in Washington DC on August 17, 1938 to loving parents, Bernard James Gibson and Mary Lola Gibson (Wilkinson). As a twin, she was tied as the second oldest of four children. She was preceded in death by her parents and her twin sister, Joan Winters. She is survived by her sister Mary Anne Patchan, her brother Bernard Gibson, husband Clarence Kaylor, sons Stephen (Paulette) & John (Sandra) Martin, daughter Laura (Kevin) Etherton, step-son John (Lorna) Kaylor and step-daughter Lore’ (Michael) Cooper. She adored her 13 grandchildren and three great grandchildren and would be happy to share all about them at any time!

As a child, Jean grew up in several locations within the Washington, DC area, with a few years spent in southern Maryland. She attended Catholic schools and graduated from The Academy of the Holy Cross. She married Louis Martin in 1959 with whom she had three children, but later divorced. Except during the years her children were very young, Jean worked - primarily within the federal government - but she was really a homemaker at heart. Jean’s many interests included cooking, gardening, and sewing. She was a talented quilter, making several beautiful quilts as gifts. She kept an immaculate house, even as a single mother. She was a very meticulous person and would fuss over something - whether organizing knick-knacks or frying an egg - until it was ‘just right’.

In 1981, Jean married Clarence (Tom) Kaylor, a minister in the United Methodist Church. Always a spiritual person (Jean was born again in 1972), she followed Jesus by leading Sunday school, bible studies, and later the Bethel Bible Series. She had a deep love for the elderly and would often visit church members in their homes. Her faith surely helped her as a pastor’s wife! They enjoyed traveling together and made frequent trips to Williamsburg and Lancaster. Always an exceptional writer, Jean composed dozens of poems and finally took the plunge of completing the writing of her life story in 2021 - which she shared with her family as a bound book at Christmas that year. Jean showed love easily and was always ready to show affection by giving ‘huggy-wuggies, kissy-wissies and squeezy-weezies’. She will be dearly missed.

A visitation will be held on Friday, January 30th from 5 to 8 pm at Donaldson Funeral Home of Clarksville, P.A. at 12540 Clarksville Pike, Clarksville, MD. A funeral service with lunch to follow will be held on Saturday, January 31st at 11 am at Glen Mar United Methodist Church at 4701 New Cut Road, Ellicott City, MD. Internment will take place at a future date.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to any of the following charities: St Jude Children’s Research Hospital (www.stjude.org), Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network (www.bcan.org), or Breast Cancer Org (www.breastcancer.org).