Jean Pauline Rathgeber of Jersey City, N.J. died peacefully in her sleep on May 12, 2021 at the Center of Hope Hospice House in Elizabeth, N.J. She was 93. The causes of death were cancer and pneumonia.
Jean spent many summers here while helping her son, Michael, when they jointly owned and operated the Seaside Deli in the West End at 93 Commercial St., where Relish is now located. She loved Provincetown very much.
Despite severe physical restrictions from having contracted polio, Jean worked her whole adult life. She was an interpreter for Spanish and Italian clients at Trans World Airlines, worked in student services at St. Peter’s College in Jersey City, and worked at an R.O.T.C. facility commissioning college graduates into active service in the military before her Seaside Deli duties.
She will be missed by many Provincetown friends.
Jean is survived by her son, Michael Rathgeber, and his fiancée, Tammy Rabbett, of Provincetown and Windsor, Conn.; by her grandchildren, Lena Rathgeber of Waterville Valley, N.H.; Malissa Rathgeber and husband Chadd Smith of Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.; and Christopher and Scott Gawyrch, both of Jersey City; and by great-grandchildren Maverick and Ryder Smith of Point Pleasant Beach.
