Jean Day Rubin passed away on May 14, 2026, two days before her 95th birthday.
Jean Mae Houghtaling was born in New Berlin, N.Y. on May 16, 1931 to Hugh Foote Houghtaling and Beulah Elizabeth Dimorier.
On graduating from Richfield Springs (NY) Central School in 1948, Jean went to work at Forman’s department store in Richfield Springs. Cliff and Lucy Forman mentored Jean in retailing, a vocation that shaped her life. Jean married William Moore Day in September 1953; the following year Bill enrolled at the University of Denver on the GI Bill, and the young couple headed west in their baby blue Nash Rambler. Daughter Cynthia Joyce arrived in February 1956, followed by son William Hugh in September 1958. After finishing his degree and working in sales for Skelly Oil, Bill decided to rejoin his father’s business, Day’s Farm Supplies, in Richfield Springs. Jean loved the West, and this was a tremendous blow, but as a young mother with two babies, she had no choice but to go along.
In January 1961, Jean and Bill bought The Economy 5-center to $1 Store in Woodstock: a two-aisle, 1,200-square-foot variety store that carried everything from stationery to sewing goods to clothing, housewares, toys, records, candy, and more. Jean did much of the buying and merchandising, and Bill trusted Jean’s “gut” when big decisions had to be made.
In 1974, Bill died from complications related to lung cancer surgery. In the years that followed, Jean’s imagination kept the two-aisle dime store relevant as national chains penetrated the state and tourism came to dominate life in Woodstock. Jean opened a second location in Quechee and brought in more ladies’ casual wear and exclusive Vermont-themed t-shirts. She worked hard and enjoyed life, traveling with girlfriends and finding a new love in Saul Rubin, whom she married in 1979. Jean and Saul threw extravagant Christmases for their blended families, added rooms to their West Woodstock house, organized multigenerational “gatherings of the clan,” and traveled extensively.
Thirty years after leaving Denver in tears, Jean finally put down roots in the West by buying a house with Saul in Green Valley, Arizona in 1987. Jean and Saul retired there in 1990, enjoying many new friends, concerts in Tucson, summer trips back East, travel with grandsons Loren and Brian, and cruises all over the world.
Throughout her life, Jean was a fierce champion for all women making their way in the world. She and Saul were generous benefactors to the educations of their children and grandchildren. Her love of reading, which began when she was a little girl with a book sitting under a tree on a summer’s day, was a constant throughout her life.
Jean is survived by brother John D. Houghtaling; daughter Cynthia Normandeau (Andrew), son William H. Day (Paige Hartsell), and step-sons John Rubin (Kristina Carroll-Porczynski) and Bruce Rubin (Jane); grandsons Loren Normandeau (Meghan Lushbaugh) and Brian Normandeau (Samantha Casaz Normandeau); step-grandchildren Jessica Delgrosso (Dante), Sukha Hartsell-DuPont (RJ Stratton), and Vaughn DuPont; great-grandson Gavin Normandeau; and step-great-grandsons Luca and Remy Delgrosso. Jean was predeceased by brother James Houghtaling and husbands William M. Day and Saul Rubin.
