Margaret Jane Talbot

Margaret Jane Illingworth Talbot was born on June 20, 1922, in Huddersfield, Yorkshire County, England. She attended primary school locally, and later, along with her beloved brother Stuart, rode the train to the Stonar (Independent Boarding) School in Wiltshire. The pair often carried a box of sweets – or “tuck box,” packed by their mother – to be enjoyed during their days and nights away at school – a tradition Jane kept every Christmas with her own sons until the end of her life. Jane was athletic in her youth. She played tennis, which led to her lifelong love of professional tennis, and swam in the cold waters of the English Channel.

Known affectionately as Peggy, Jane, and PJ to Jane’s many family members and friends, Jane and her family moved to the London area in the 1930s. The Second World War played a formative role in Jane’s life. She worked as a Magneto Inspector on the British RAF’s Spitfire airplanes, and through friends, met the handsome mustachioed American medical officer – John Mayo Talbot (USAF Brigadier General, Ret.) – who would become her husband.

In 1946 Jane boarded the Queen Mary and sailed to Ellis Island. From New York City, she boarded a train for the weeklong journey to Portland, Oregon, where she met her future in-laws and married in November. The couple had two sons in the 1950s.

John’s military career took the family around the globe, from San Antonio, Texas, to Annapolis, Maryland, to Omaha, Nebraska, to Wiesbaden, Germany. Jane and John traveled to the Soviet Union as part of a pioneering international medical research team studying space biology and medicine. Jane loved the adventure of meeting new people and exploring new countries. She was recognized as a leader in her own right, serving as president of the Wives Wing of the Aerospace Medical Association as well as of her local Annapolis Roads Garden Club. Friends remember her as open, kind, encouraging, strong, fearless, and fun.

In her retirement years, Jane worked daily in her beloved garden. She frequently traveled to places she loved – England, France, Switzerland, New York City – and spent several weeks every year in Portland visiting family. She took her enthusiasm for fine dining and storytelling everywhere she went. She made her final home along the waterfront in Annapolis, where she died peacefully on February 19, 2024. Inurnment will take place, alongside her husband of 62 years, at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.

Jane is survived by her two sons: Mark Stuart Talbot (Joellen Marie) and Neil Charles Talbot (Nancy); three grandchildren: Sarah Ann Talbot (Evan Zimmerman), John Casey Talbot, and Caelan Stuart Talbot (Alison Padilla Leiva); and in Portland, her daughter-in-law Frieda Talbot, granddaughter Lisa Talbot Roberts, and three great grandchildren: Hans Rudolf, Max Rudolf, and Cecelia Roberts.