Jean Sebastian Noth

My heart is too full right now to comment in detail on the death Thursday of my brother, Jean Sebastien Noth (that’s how his middle name was spelled in Aix en Provence where he was born May 17, 1939) Many of my previous “Snippets” are in effect a family memoir, revealing how the family escaped from France to New York via Portugal. Jean was two at the time in 1941 and I was born in New York City in 1942, which probably means in today’s parlance I was the anchor baby. But these were different times for immigrants on the eve of WWII. Roosevelt was forced to contain the antisemitism of his own state department, which had made life difficult for Jewish refugees from Germany in the 1930s. My grandmother, Bessy, was able to escape to American with Elena, Erich, and my now deceased brothers Pierre and Jean. But Elena and Erich separately had escaped Germany in 1933, he a noted writer, she a noted classical soprano, Jewish, who sensed in 1933 that she was being followed from opera town to town and hence just continued on the train to Paris. One of the differences n 1941-42 was that Erich had barely arrived before he was recruited into the Navy because of his language skills and reputation as an anti-Nazi, while Elena went to work for Voice of America. I have detailed some of this in past snippets. I am not quite ready to set down my childhood memories about Jean — though he was three years older, I stayed in his grades throughout K-12, moving back and forth as demanded since I was academically adept and he had communication problems and needed to be protected. But he was a happy bright person and though he lost interest in painting some 40 years ago, his gifts influenced my children. So I am hear including linke to my son Paul’s substack memories. When people ask how I became a cartoonist, the first name I mention is my uncle, Jean Sebastian Noth, who passed away yesterday morning at the age of 86. An unfailingly kind and patient man, Uncle Jean was the first professional artist I ever knew and a lifelong devotee of the comic art form… I should mention we are planning a memorial tribute for Jean at Northshore Funeral Home, 3601 N Oakland Ave, Shorewood, WI 53211. After we get the news out. For decades Jean has lived with his sister, Malou, but he also was well known in the neighborhood and from years of helping out at schools and day cares. Plus in his years as an artist he had several exhibits, including selling drawings (for rent and then purchase), and while we have family examples it may take some time to gather enough interest from decades ago when Jean had a different set of acquaintances. So no date settled yet though family video tributes are in the works. When people ask how I became a cartoonist, the first name I mention is my uncle, Jean Sebastian Noth, who passed away yesterday morning at the age of 86. An unfailingly kind and patient man, Uncle Jean was the first professional artist I ever knew and a lifelong devotee of the comic art form…

Jean Sebastian Noth

May 17, 1939 - January 22, 2026