Around Forest Lake for decade after decade, brothers Ty, Bill and Mickey Jeans were commonly known as the Jeans boys. The Jeans’ involvement in Forest Lake business and community functions runs deep, dating to the 1930s.
But now the family has lost its eldest sibling. Ty Jeans was two months shy of his 91st birthday when he died on Friday, Feb. 5.
A 1943 graduate of Forest Lake High School, Jeans went on to spend most of his life in Forest Lake with several business interests and dedicated community service. It was a life that mirrored the life of his brother Bill, just 13 months his junior. The brothers were almost inseparable for many years.
Tyrus “Ty” Jeans was active in a variety of business ventures around Forest Lake, often partnering with his brothers.
“Our parents, Ray and Agnes, felt it best that we start school together,” Bill said, thinking back to 1931 when Ty was 6 and he was just 5. The family of four, including Mickey, now 88, and sister, Lorna, were four years apart and living on the 160-acre family farm in May Township that had been homesteaded around 1880 by their grandfather, William R. Jeans.
Brothers Ty and Bill remained classmates through their elementary school years in one-room schools in Hugo and Oneka Township before the family settled closer to Forest Lake. Ray Jeans farmed but gradually transitioned to the business world, selling Minneapolis Moline implements and opening Ray Jeans Implement in 1935. The business was located on the south side of West Broadway Avenue directly opposite American Legion Post 225.
The family business provided jobs for all three Jeans brothers during high school and after, but America’s entry into World War II would take Ty and Bill to new destinations in service of their country. Ty was working for his father in early 1944 when he enlisted in the Navy, followed shortly by his brother Bill, who joined the naval service. Both served two years before being discharged.
Ty spent his years in the Navy on a troop transport ship, the USS Gen. M.B. Stewart. Duty carried him to the Pacific Theater and later to France and Italy, where the ship was to move troops from Europe to the Pacific. The surrender by the Japanese in August 1945 changed the Stewart’s destination to the East Coast of the United States.
The brothers returned to the implement business in the years following their military service. Mickey, too young for World War II, later served in the Army prior to the start of the Korean War before returning home to operate a Ford dealership.
By the early 1960s, Ty and Bill were embarking on other business ventures. They joined three other partners to buy Vogel’s Supper Club, where Der Lach Haus would be built. They remained partners in the business, where Vannelli’s by the Lake is today, for 17 years.
It was 1966 when Bill and Ty Jeans formed Jeans Inc. and ran a Moto Ski snowmobile distributorship serving 200 dealers in a three-state region. The business, which operated until 1973, was housed in what is today the secondary campus of North Lakes Charter Academy.
Ty spent the remainder of his work years selling real estate in the Forest Lake area.
Community service
Ty Jeans always found time for community service, his brother said. He was active with the Forest Lake Chamber of Commerce and spent many years as a board member of the Forest Lake Development Corporation. Through his real estate contacts, Ty helped secure land buyers and businesses for the Forest Lake Industrial Park on the east side of I-35 and the Everton Park business development on the west side of I-35.
School service was also on the resume for Ty. He served on the Forest Lake School Board from 1963 to 1969.
Following in the family tradition established by his father, Ty was an ardent supporter of the local baseball program. Ray Jeans was a key figure in the early days of the program and poured labor and fundraising into the construction of the adult baseball diamond, now The Ballpark at Schumacher Field.
Ty was not large in stature, but was big in heart, Bill said. He stood 5 feet 5 inches and weighed 98 pounds when graduating from high school, but he was a tough second baseman who was not afraid to turn a double play in the face of a hard-charging base runner. Bill was the shortstop both in high school and for the town team Forest Lake Lakers, where he teamed with his brother as the middle infield anchor. Ty played town team ball until he was 30.
“He was a pretty feisty player,” Bill said of his brother. He said Ty would enjoy his visits to the ballpark to see high school and summer games where grandsons Trip and Michael Schultz carried on the family tradition.
When he wasn’t watching baseball, Bill said, his brother enjoyed golf at Forest Hills Golf Club and cards with friends.
Funeral details
Tyrus “Ty” R. Jeans was born on April 2, 1925. He died on Feb. 5.
Visitation is set for 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 13, at Roberts Family Life Celebration Home, 555 SW Centennial Drive, followed by a funeral service at 3 p.m. Interment with full military honors will be at Withrow Cemetery.
His is survived by his children, Todd (Kit) Jeans, Tara (David) Schultz, Heather (Darin) Heller, Amy Burks and James Jeans; grandchildren Taylor, Daniel and Savannah Jeans, Trip and Michael Schultz and Nicholas and Rachel Heller; brothers Bill (Marguerite) and Mickey; special friend Sharon Palas; many nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Ray and Agnes Jeans, and his sister, Lorna Hammes.
Memorials are preferred to the Forest Lake Dugout Club, the booster organization supporting the Forest Lake High School baseball program.