Jean was born in Detroit, Michigan, the only daughter of Howard and Gail (Malsbary) Stein. She had 2 older brothers, Phil and Dwight Stein. During her childhood, the family lived in Detroit, St. Louis, and Wheaton, IL.
Jean accepted Christ as her Savior at age 8 during a backyard Child Evangelism “Good News Club” led by her mother.
Greg was the child of LeRoy William Giles and June (Murphy) Giles, born on July 26, 1951 in Fallon, Nevada. He was the youngest of 6 siblings - Carol Ruth Chapin, Bill William Giles Jr., Beth Elizabeth Buffington, Robert Giles and Al Giles.
In 1968 Greg skipped his Senior year at Bountiful High School in Utah in order to attend the University of Utah. During the summer of 1969 he worked as a dishwasher at Camp Utaba near Ogden, Utah. During that summer during a chapel service he accepted Christ as his Saviour - a decision which transformed his heart, his belief system and his life goals. During a short term Bible school experience in Mexico he felt God leading him into missionary service.
After graduating from the “U” with a BS in Psychology (1972) Greg enrolled at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois Jean graduated from Wheaton Christian High School in 1971.
During the years of 1971-1975 Jean attended Trinity College in Deerfield, IL, where she got her BA degree in Elementary Education. She traveled with a Trinity College choir/ instrumental group to five different countries in Europe-a highlight of her life. While attending Trinity she met Greg Giles, who was attending Trinity Seminary. They met in the cafeteria shared by the two schools. At their first meeting, when Jean started to get up to go to class, Greg had hooked his feet around the legs of the chair and from that time on Jean was hooked!
Jean and Greg were married in 1975 and lived in Highwood, IL and in Chicago, IL. They ministered together as youth workers at Kelvyn Park Presbyterian Church in Chicago.
After Greg graduated from TEDS with an M/Div in Missions, Greg and Jean applied to join SIM (Sudan Interior Mission) to go as missionaries to Liberia, West Africa where they lives from 1977-1986. They lived at the ELWA Mission Compound, in Monrovia, and upcountry. In Monrovia Jean served as a Bible teacher in a public school and as a literacy worker with adult women. She also served as a preschool teacher at the ELWA Academy.
Greg served 2 years as a high school Bible teacher, 3 years as a church planter and finally as director of the church development department. During this time he completed an MA in lntercultural Studies from Wheaton College Graduate School in 1984.
While in Africa, two daughters, Christy and Cheri were born. A third daughter, Heidi, was born at a hospital in Illinois during a furlough. Jean, Greg and the girls lived in Bemidji, MN from 1986 - 2011 while Greg taught at Oak Hills Christian College. Greg would later become the Academic Dean at OHCC. He often preached at nearby churches when pulpit supply was needed. He also took a sabbatical and taught 1 semester at Savar Theological School in Bangladesh.
During the years at OHCC Greg completed a PHO in Education from Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois.
Jean provided home daycare to more than 150 children for 16 years. Later she served as a substitute teacher and paraprofessional in the local school systems, often working with special needs children. (Her dream came true of serving special needs kids) Jean and Greg moved to SIAS University from 2011 - 2015 to Xinzheng, Henan, China, where Jean taught Oral English to college freshmen. Her students loved having Jean as a teacher, and she was rated in the top 5 among the 80 University foreign teachers. Many students visited their apartment, and twice each week they held Bible Studies with a few students. By God’s grace, some of those students became Christians through those contacts.
Jean and Greg returned to Bemidji in 2015 and Jean became a substitute teacher again. Greg served for 1 more year as interim Academic Dean at OHCC Then they moved to Corn, OK, where Greg was superintendent of Corn Bible Academy middle school/high school.
Greg retired in 2019 and they moved to Cordell, OK. Jean became certified as a feeding assistant, and began serving in the Corn Heritage Village nursing home. After retirement Greg worked at four different part time jobs (Grocery store deli, 2020 US census supervisor/ enumerator, online teacher for Sias University in China and a feeding assistant at Corn nursing home.)
Jean and Greg loved to travel. Not only did they live and serve in five states and in four countries, they also traveled to 20 countries around the world.
Greg has often said that visiting churches in foreign countries where people sing praises in different languages is a taste of heaven where every nation and every tongue will be represented around the throne worshipping God and the Lamb! Greg is now enjoying that heavenly worship he has long anticipated!
Jean’s favorite Bible verse was 2 Corinthians 5:20-21: “We are therefore Christi’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Jean’s favorite hymn was: On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand.
Jean and Greg passed together from this life on August 29, 2026 when they went to heaven to be with their Savior Jesus and to be reunited with Jean’s parents, her brother Phil, and other loved ones.
Greg and Jean are survived by their daughters Christy Haman(married to Jerrik Haman), Cheri Mullet (married to Jared Mullet), and Heidi Holland (married to Nick Holland); and by their grandchildren: Hezekiah Haman, Gideon Haman, Josiah Haman, Alice Mullet, Bethany Mullet, Cameron Mullet, Matthew (foster child), Madeline Johnson, Savannah Johnson, Aubrey Johnson, Anika Johnson, Veronique Wright, Cameron Holland, and Cayson Holland. Jean is also survived by her brother Dwight Stein.
Those who were blessed to know Jean and Greg loved them and they will be missed greatly.
Funeral service will be held on September 12, 2026 at 1:30 p.m. at First Baptist Church Cordell.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Corn Bible Academy via check with “For Dr. Giles” notated in the memo, or online at cornbible. org/give for the Giles Memorial.