Audrey Jeanette Gilbeau

Born in Vernon, Texas, to Walter August Barnes and his wife, Chloe Edna Huff, Jeanette was one of four children whose early years were spent on the family farm. The hardships of the Depression motivated Jeanette to seek a better future. A move to California in her early teens set the stage for what would become a meaningful and prosperous life.

To Jeanette, San Jose was a paradise compared to the Dust Bowl conditions in which she grew up. While completing her secondary education at San Jose Evening High School, she enrolled in a history class taught by famed local historian, Dr. Clyde Arbuckle, who would become her mentor and change Jeanette's life by instilling in her a love of education and inspiring a lifetime passion for both San Jose and California history.

After achieving her teaching credentials at San Jose State College, Jeanette taught primarily fourth grade in the Union School District, first at Vineland Elementary and then at Lone Hill Elementary. Popular with both students and their parents, Jeanette loved being in the classroom engaging her students and sharing her love of history through animated storytelling especially and unique field trips to local cemeteries and historic sites throughout Santa Clara County. She was famous for her multiplication flashcards, passionate about the California Missions, and fondly remembered for the fun she brought to both teaching and learning inside and outside the classroom.

After moving to Saratoga in 1970, Jeanette expanded her interests in sports, and the culinary and decorative arts. She became an avid tennis player, golfer and runner, discovering her love for all three, and finding in sports both pleasure and reward. When running gave way to distance walking, she began goal-setting and recording her mileage in her daily journal. She recorded an astonishing 40,000 miles over four decades -- mileage equivalent to walking around the world more than once -- an outstanding accomplishment for which she was featured in The San Jose Mercury News! Many of those miles included daily walks into downtown Los Gatos, enjoying early morning coffee at Starbucks (sometimes twice) and the Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Company. Her culinary skills earned her both a Blue Ribbon for her Apple Pie at the Santa Clara County Fair and a featured article for her Crunchy Walnut Pie in Sunset Magazine. She loved canning apricots and applesauce with the fresh fruit from her trees, and homemaking cobblers and preserves from the wild blackberries growing alongside the creek. Her Gravenstein applesauce remains legendary to this day, and her pie crust recipe, one-of-a-kind, aptly fitting for a woman most memorable in all of our hearts and minds.

Jeanette and her husband Ken were generous supporters and benefactors of the San Jose Museum of Art. Following her public-school retirement, Jeanette spent 20 years as an art docent and teacher through Let's Look At Art, the museum's program focused on bringing art appreciation into public schools. She also served as a member and docent of the San Jose Historical Museum, founded by her teacher and mentor, Dr. Clyde Arbuckle.

Socially adept and enjoying a wide range of activities, Jeanette was a friend and inspiration to many. She enjoyed enduring friendships with former students many years after her retirement, and her wide range of friends spanned her various hobbies and interests, including raising a cheery glass of wine at Happy Hour.

She was a seeker and an adventurer, from first on her own as a child, throughout her adulthood, and well into her later years. She loved spending time outdoors and on her own terms. Jeanette both relished her independence and cherished togetherness with people she befriended and those she had just met. A day without laughter for her was lost...she loved parties, playing games, taking road trips and enjoying life to the fullest. Her spirit was buoyant and bountiful, always grateful for all the wonderful experiences she shared with all the people she loved.

Jeanette is survived by her husband of 57 years, Kenneth Gilbeau, her daughter, Janis Lassner, granddaughter, Maren, and son-in-law, Dale. Interment will be private. In lieu of flowers, please make donations in her honor to individually favored charities.

Published in Los Gatan · June 9, 2025