Jewel Lee Maurino

Jewel Lee Maurino, né Wilma Jewel Maurino, aged 84, passed away peacefully in her home at Royal Oaks Retirement Community on September 4, 2024, in Sun City, Arizona following a recent fall that resulted in a rapid decline of her health.

Jewel was predeceased by her younger sister Jacqueline Maurino, and her two husbands, Rex McBride and Jack Horan. She is survived by her children, Lisa A. McBride, R. Darren McBride, Patrick B. McBride, and Heather J. Lary; as well as her grandchildren, Meredith J. McBride, Samantha A. McBride, Jaclyn M. Hozumi, Christopher B. McBride, Michaela B. Polmann, John J. Polmann, Matthew P. McBride, and Nicholas C. McBride; and her great-granddaughter, Alexis A. Gehrmann.

A memorial luncheon to celebrate Jewel's life will be held at 1 PM on September 14, 2024 in the private dining room of the Sun Ray Restaurant at Royal Oaks Assisted Retirement Community, 10015 Royal Oaks Rd, Sun City, Arizona, 85351.

If you would like to attend, RSVP to Lisa McBride by text at 727-698-8884.

In lieu of flowers, we request that donations be made in Jewel’s name to the American Stroke Association at

https://www.stroke.org/

Jewel will be deeply missed and forever cherished by those who had the privilege of knowing her.

Jewel was born on July 1, 1940, in Standish, California, to Jack (Giacomo) Maurino and Pearl Marie Cannon Maurino. She grew up in a little brick house on Richmond Road at the edge of the Susanville City limits built by her parents that sat on 50-acre plot of pastureland at the base of the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Jewel was taught how to cook and sew and was given all sorts of chores. She was very capable. Jewel learned to paint and do minor plumbing and electric work. There was no task that she wouldn’t try.

Jewel was a very active, smart and adventurous child, and due simply to her inquisitive nature did things that disturbed her father. Jack Maurino had been a German prisoner of war in World War 1 and likely suffered from PTSD which may have contributed to his temper. Jewel learned to run away and hide when her father was angry, but she still sought to please her parents and was an excellent student.

In an effort instill discipline, Jewel was sent to Our Lady of Mercy Academy in Red Bluff, California, a Catholic boarding high school for girls. Jewel continued her rambunctious ways while studying at the convent. She snuck out of her dorm room to go watch movies that were rated other than “G”, she took up smoking cigarettes and she had a boyfriend. Still, she was able to graduate as the valedictorian of her class.

After graduation, she returned home to Susanville to live with her parents and attended Lassen Community College. At junior college she was popular and was elected homecoming queen. She caught the eye of the football quarter-back, Rex McBride, and they fell madly in love. She and Rex were engaged by Christmas even though Jewel’s father forbade the engagement. Later that summer, Jewel snuck out of her parent’s home and ran away with Rex. They were married at The Church of St Rose in a very small ceremony in Monroe, Oregon June 20, 1959.

They went on to have three children in as many years. Financially, times were tough. Jewel stayed at home with the children while Rex worked during the night shift at a plywood plant and attended vocational school during the day. Jewel was very creative in making limited resources go a long way. She often sewed clothing for herself and her children. Her children fondly remember her dressing them in matching outfits that she sewed for holiday photos. Despite the challenges, Jewel strove to be an excellent mother and wife. Her children were clean, well dressed and well behaved. She emphasized education to get ahead in life and encouraged her children to do well in school even though her education had been cut short. Her home and yard were exceptionally clean and well maintained. She was a perfectionist.

After Rex graduated from vocational school, Jewel’s father died, and Pearl offered Jewel’s family a free apartment behind the family home. The couple accepted and within a year Jewel and Rex saved up enough money to buy a home. Rex found a good job in Reno, so the family moved into a brand-new home in Reno. Jewel got busy decorating and made her own furniture. She also designed and implemented the landscape. Jewel worked hard to make her new home cute. Finances were still tight, but her life was improving.

In 1966, Jewel became pregnant for a fourth time. Jewel decided that she and Rex couldn’t continue to squeak by financially. She planned to enroll in nursing school as soon as the fourth child was weaned so she could get a job to contribute to the household income.

When the new baby was two years old, Jewel started nursing school at Truckee Meadows Community College for their inaugural nursing class. Unfortunately, the program hit a snag after the first year and the students had to go to Las Vegas to complete their final year of the program. So, the family moved to Henderson, Nevada for a year and Jewel graduated with her associate’s degree in nursing from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and became an RN in 1970.

After graduation, the family returned to Reno where Jewel began working at Washoe Medical Center on a med/surg unit and then the coronary care unit. That same year, Rex decided to start his own machine shop.

Jewel was now working full time in the CCU, taking care of the children after school, and helping her husband manage the financial aspects of the new business. Something had to give. When her children got in trouble on the school bus, Jewel quit her nursing job. She then devoted her time to financial management of the business, but only during school hours so she could be home when her children went to school and returned home each day.

Within three years, the machine shop business grew to the point where Jewel and Rex had discretionary income. They were able to buy a camper and then a motor home and boat. They made enough money that they were able to move to a larger home. About that time, Rex decided he wanted to spend more time with his family. His plan was to go on a family outing every single weekend. This meant that starting on Wednesday of each week, Jewel would bake, pre-prepare and pack food for the weekend and start loading up the motor home. Jewel and Rex would take their kids on weekend camping, boating, and hunting trips. Then on Sunday after returning for a trip, Jewel and the children would empty out the motor home, Jewel would clean everything and get ready to do it again the next week. Jewel loved sunning on the bow of the boat, and she never complained about these trips even though they were obviously a lot of work for her.

Unfortunately, alcohol consumption became a daily routine for Rex and Jewel, exacerbating conflicts between them. The conflicts with her husband, the effort to manage her home, children and the financial aspects of the business took its toll on Jewel. Jewel had many good times raising her family and going on outdoor adventures, but she also had a tremendous amount of frustration and sadness in her marriage. Jewel divorced Rex in 1981 after 21 years of marriage. Jewel legally changed her name from Wilma Jewel McBride to Jewel Lee Maurino.

Jewel moved to a townhouse in northwest Reno. Lisa and Heather moved with her. Her sons stayed with their father. Needing to support herself, she returned to nursing in the recovery unit at St. Mary’s Hospital. She worked at that job a couple of years before she found a position as an occupational nurse working at the JC Penney Warehouse in Stead. It was here that Jewel met her co-worker, Donna Thomas, who turned into her biggest source of care and support throughout the rest of her life. When Lisa graduated from college and moved out of her mother’s town home in January of 1982, Jewel’s youngest son, Patrick, moved in after having an altercation with his father.

Jewel became more joyful with her single life. She finally had time to complete her own bachelor’s degree in nursing management from Sierra Nevada University. She was very proud that all four of her children had graduated from college and it was now her turn. She also took up golf and became obsessed with it.

In 1993, after Heather had left the nest, Jewel moved to Sacramento. She got another job in occupational nursing at a large health care insurance company. She bought a cute home and spent a lot of effort fixing it up. In 1996, she sold her house and moved into a condominium on the Rancho Murieta Golf Course in Rancho Murieta, California.

Ready to share her life with someone again, she met Jack Horan through an online dating site, and they married in a private ceremony in Hawaii in 2002 and Jewel officially retired. For a while, the new couple lived in Jewel’s condominium, but it was too small for two people. They wanted to live in a golf community and found a home in a retirement golf community in Sun City West, Arizona where Jewel’s friend, Donna Thomas, had recently relocated.

Jewel’s retirement was spent golfing, traveling, taking adult education courses and attending social outings with friends. Unfortunately, after moving to Sun City, Jewel’s new husband’s health began to decline, and Jewel was forced to place him in a nursing home where he passed away. In 2010, Jewel’s younger sister, also passed away unexpectedly leaving Jewel to care for their elderly mother. Jewel moved Pearl from Sacramento to Sun City and placed her in an ALF with memory care where Pearl passed away in 2011. Jewel continued to golf daily until she physically couldn’t golf anymore.

After a massive stroke, Jewel found that she could no longer care for her home, so she sold it and moved into an apartment at Royal Oaks Retirement Community where she continued to enjoy the company of friends and social outings albeit at a slower pace.