Whether it was finding the money for a pair of spikes so her son could play baseball when money was scarce, or always saying "I love you" when parting from a child, or putting the grandkids on the rides on the Ocean City or Sea Isle boardwalks, or taking them on trips.

Simple pleasures, maybe, but to Jean they were what life was all about.

Even after she suffered a debilitating stroke in 2000 and lost her husband, Larry, in 2004, her determination to care for her family never diminished.

She died in her sleep Tuesday night. She was 73.

Although her death was a great loss for her family, it was the way Jean always said she wanted to go. She didn't want to burden anyone with prolonged suffering.

"I only hope that if I'm in the same situation some day, I handle it with as much courage as she did," said her son, Mike Kern, a Daily News sportswriter and her only child. "She never gave in."

When Mike and his wife, Regina, had children, a boy and a girl, "it was the greatest thing that ever happened" to Jean and her husband.

Jean's only regret would be that she would not be able to dance at their weddings, as she had sworn she would do.

"And my mom was a stubborn person," Mike said. "When she put her mind to something, it usually happened."

"Mom was inspirational to everyone who met her," Regina Kern said. "She was never one to wallow in her own problems, even after suffering a stroke nine years ago. She embraced life to the fullest and loved her family."

Jean was born in Kensington to Alice and Arthur Kettleband. She graduated from Kensington High School. She and her husband were married in 1957.

He was a truck driver and she worked as a bookkeeper for various companies and nursing homes in the city.

"My mom was the type of person who you always knew was in the room," Mike said. "She told you what was on her mind, never held back. If she didn't like you, she'd let you know it. And if she did, you were a friend for life."

She suffered the stroke while on a cruise to Alaska with her grandson, Stephen, now 23, and lost the use of her right side.

More recently, she took her granddaughter, Melissa, now 25, on two cruises to the Caribbean.

"Melissa always said how much fun she had being away with Mom," Mike said. "It was easy to understand why. It was always about what she could do to make everyone else's life around her better, even with her handicap."

Jean loved the family's annual summer vacations to the Shore, in Wildwood, Strathmere or Ocean City.

"I can remember how much fun we had taking the kids to the Boardwalk to put them on the rides," Mike said. "She loved the beach, just going down there and doing nothing but reading or falling asleep or watching the tide go out or the sun go down.

"They were great times, great memories, things you can't replace. With Mom, it was a lot of the simple pleasures that seemed to make her the happiest.

"She never let herself get down, or at least she never showed it. Toward the end, a few people told us that she told them she was just 'getting tired.' Maybe it's as simple as that."

When Jean moved into an apartment complex after selling her house, she got to know everyone. "And I mean everyone," Mike said.

"I can't tell you how many people I heard from after she passed. It was almost overwhelming, but it felt good to know that she had touched so many people."

She was predeceased by a sister, Mae Grant, and a brother, Jack.

Services: A celebration of her life will be held at 1 p.m. Jan. 17 at the Holmesburg United Methodist Church, 8118 Frankford Ave. Friends may arrive at 12:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the church. *