Helen ‘Jean’ McBride Oaks 1941-2025

Jean was born in Youngstown to Thomas and Helen McBride.

She was a 1959 graduate of Boardman High School, and she earned an undergraduate degree in elementary education from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1963.

She married George in 1964. His career with the FBI led them to Tampa, Florida; Gadsden, Alabama; and Crofton, Maryland, where she launched a 37-year career with Anne Arundel County Public Schools as a classroom teacher in first to fifth grades and then as a resource teacher working in schools across the county.

Jean retired to Hertford in 2005, where she was a North Carolina Master Gardener and a volunteer with the Perquimans Art League. She enjoyed traveling the Southeast in an RV with George. Her passion was writing poetry for every occasion — holidays, birthdays, anniversaries. Jean could find the turn of phrase to celebrate every occasion with verse. Her gift for rhyme found its way into her role as an educator, where she wrote poems that were included in reading, math, social studies and science curricula. In 2014, she published “Diggin’ Dirt,” a book of poems describing the joys and tribulations of gardening.

In addition to George, Jean is survived by her son, Thomas Oaks (Kelly) of Annapolis, Maryland; daughter, Jody Sorofman (Jake); and granddaughters, Hannah and Marin Sorofman, all of Washington, D.C. She also is survived by her sisters, Judy Fleming (John) of Canfield and Mary Lampley, of Winston-Salem, North Carolina; sister-in-law, Carol Oaks of Sycamore, Illinois; and many beloved nieces and nephews.

In honor of Jean, memorial donations to the capital campaign for the Perquimans Arts League (https://perquimansarts.org/capital-campaign) would be much appreciated.

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