After growing up in Letts and graduating from Wapello Junior-Senior High School, Jean Brauns married Fred Humiston in 1955 and then moved to a farm near Wapello to raise their family. Brauns enjoyed getting to stay home and raise her children on that farm for over 20 years.

Later, Brauns held several jobs. She spent nine good years at Bridgestone Bandag before serving as the Louisa County Recorder for 20 years. Brauns liked her work as recorder because she enjoyed interacting with the community and helping people find the information they needed. Following her time as recorder, Brauns worked at the Sombrero Restaurant in Grandview for 15 years and loved getting to socialize with all the community members who regularly dined there.

Outside of her work, Brauns generously donated her time to help out her community. She spent four years on the Louisa County Board of Elections and six years organizing Wapello alumni banquets. An active member of Letts Bible Church, she taught Sunday school for many years and played an active role in organizing church dinners, including spending five years helping with Christmas dinners. In 1989, she married a second time to Bill Brauns.

Throughout her life, Brauns has enjoyed spending time outside gardening, canning, and freezing homegrown fruits and vegetables, spending time with her family, and shopping in downtown Muscatine. Brauns has continued to keep busy in her 14 years of retirement and loves spending as much time with her grandchildren as she can.

Brauns chose Bickford Senior Living as a place for herself to live when she knew she needed more support with everyday tasks. She has found the move beneficial and values belonging to the Bickford community. “I decided to come to Bickford Senior Living in Muscatine when I could no longer care for myself at home,” she shared: “It is closer to my daughters that live in the area and I like living at Bickford because of the smaller family setting. I really like the family atmosphere at Bickford.”