Jean Louise (Swarts) Livingston died on Friday, July 10, 2009, at her home in Danville, Calif., following a long illness.

The daughter of Charles E. and Louise (Friedman) Swarts, she was born on Jan. 23, 1923, in Chicago and was raised in Winnetka, Ill. She attended New Trier Township High School, graduating in 1940, and also attended Carlton College in Minnesota.

Mrs. Livingston was a secretary for the Army Air Corps (later Air Force) during World War II and also worked for Walter E. Heller Corporation and North Shore Congregation Israel.

She married Irvin (“Bud”) Livingston, Jr., on July 19, 1947, and they had two sons, Thomas and John. The family moved from Chicago to Morton Grove, Ill., Sylvania, Ohio, and Arcadia, Calif. Mrs. Livingston became active in the League of Women voters while in Ohio and remained active in that organization, as well as the rest of her community, after moving to California.

She served as president of the Friends of the Arcadia Public Library, was a member of the Library Board, and was also active in the PTA and worked with her husband to establish the Arcadia Volunteer Service Organization, which put community resources into the schoolrooms.

Mrs. Livingston was named Citizen of the Year in 1976. After the two children had grown up and left the household, the Livingstons moved north to Danville in 1980.

Mrs. Livingston loved playing piano, and in her youth, sang swing jazz. She also loved playing bridge with her friends in Sylvania, Arcadia and Danville.

She was preceded in death by her mother in 1967, her father in 1973, and her husband in 1995. She is survived by her brother, Dr. Charles L. Swarts, of Westminster, Ill.; sons, Tom Livingston (Maxine Waber), of Jenkintown, Pa., a children’s magazine editor, and John Livingston (Andi Neuwirth), of Mercer Island, a desktop publishing specialist and former freelance writer and web uploader for Pacific Publishing; along with five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Memorial services were held at the family home and Congregation Herzl Ner Tamid on Mercer Island.

Remembrances are suggested to Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, a foundation seeking to find a cure for childhood cancer: www.alexslemonade.org.