Jewel T. (Borst) Otten

Jewel Tresa Otten, 87, of Forest Park, Illinois, passed away peacefully in hospice care at British Home on Jan. 7 2026.

The youngest child of Kathryn Huizenga Borst and Laurens Borst, she was born in Passaic, New Jersey on May 30, 1938. Jewel graduated from Calvin College and went on to earn her master’s in education from The Foster G. McGaw Graduate School of National College of Education.  Jewel taught kindergarten and 1st grade for 24 years at Chicago Southwest Christian School, where she was beloved by her students, who often proclaimed years later she was their favorite teacher.

Throughout her life, Jewel loved the natural world, learning about birds, trees, plants and sharing how we could protect and care for all life. Working in gardens was where she found joy. Her favorite garden was Drake Community Garden in Chicago’s Albany Park neighborhood; where she could dig her hands in the soil with others and create a space that was both beautiful and a place for play and community. She particularly loved working in the garden with her granddaughter, Isabel, as Isabel “helped” plant flowers and move shrubs, rode her bike and shared all her “3-year-old thoughts” with her patient grandmother.

Wherever Jewel traveled, she quickly found the beautiful gardens, trails and woods each time. Whether it was visiting her sister and brother-in-law in Pittsburgh and touring the Phipps Gardens to the beauty of Alaska’s Auke Mountain; she found her joy in every corner of the world. She was a committed volunteer and enjoyed lending a hand at the Pass It On Thrift Center, a resale shop in Crestwood, Ill. She also was a decades-long volunteer for Openlands, a Chicago-based regional conservation organization.

Jewel loved to tell stories. She captivated her audiences with stories of her childhood, travels and sharing life’s wisdom. Jewel rarely watched TV except for the local news and Jeopardy. Rather, she enjoyed Sudoku and was an expert player, burning through the numbers puzzles like wildfire. And books. She always loved books. She was an avid reader, finding escape in books and could remember plots and characters even years after reading the book.

Friends and family always cherished her quick wit and deadpan humor. She would drop a dry and humorous sentence into a discussion that caught us in surprise and then laughing until we were crying. Of course, Jewel would join in the laughter and hilarity. If you ever lost her in a crowd, you’d be sure to find her by following the sound of her distinctive laugh. Jewel was preceded in death by her parents, Kathryn and Laurens, brother Bill, and sister Connie Prince. She is survived by her brother Lawrence Borst, daughter Julia Otten Knier, son Tom Otten, daughter-in-law Kelly Hager, and granddaughter, Isabel Knier.

A memorial service will be held on Friday Feb. 20, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. at Calvary Memorial

Church in Oak Park, Illinois. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Openlands TreeKeepers.  Info. 708-366-2200 or www.ZimmermanHarnett.com.

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