Mary Jane Young

Mary Jane Neeley (“Jane”) Young, aged 76, passed away peacefully at her apartment in Eugene, Oregon August 20, 2024. She was born March 22, 1948, in San Diego, California, where her parents, Grady and Maude Neeley, owned and operated a grocery store and service station in nearby National City, California.

When Jane was around three, Grady and Maude sold their business and moved to Alvarado, Texas, where she grew up and attended school. She graduated from Alvarado High School in 1965 and started college at the University of Texas at Arlington, then known as Arlington State College. In 1968 she transferred to Texas Wesleyan University where, in 1970, she received her Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education with a minor in Mathematics.

While in college, she attended a party that her parents most certainly would not have approved of. She met Stafford Grigsby Helm, III, fresh from basic training and soon to deploy to Vietnam. Fate brought them together that night and they would eventually marry September 6, 1969. Early in their marriage, Jane taught elementary school while Stafford finished his degree. They had three children, Brandon Garrick Helm, Colin Neeley Helm, and Blake Dickason Helm.

After divorcing Stafford in 1985, Jane started working again as a Math teacher at Morningside Middle School in their Magnet program. It was during this time, thanks to youth soccer, that Jane met Benjamin Edward (“Ben”) Young who was Colin’s soccer coach. They married on March 17, 1990. Like the Brady Bunch, two families were brought together, though five kids, not six, and only one girl. In 1992, she started graduate school at the University of North Texas, graduating in 1996 with a Master of Educational Counseling. She started her counseling career in 1994 at Cleburne High School where she retired in 2005.

Never done, Jane received her real estate license shortly after retiring and worked for her sister, Linda, as a real estate agent for several years before fully retiring to Glen Rose, Texas in 2010. She was an active member of the local community until 2017 when she moved to Providence Village, Texas to take on “Granny” duties for one of her eight grandchildren, Leeloo.

In 2022, after a stage 4 cancer diagnosis followed by 18 months of chemotherapy treatment, Jane moved to Eugene, Oregon to live at the Eugene Hotel which is an amazing community of older individuals living their best life. Jane was everyone’s favorite new member of the community making a name for herself with her outspoken love of Beto O'Rourke and her endearing Texas drawl.

Jane is survived by her five children (Brandon Garrick Helm, Benjamin Russell Young, Colin Neeley Helm, Blake Dickason Helm, Kristina Lynn Broussard), eight grandchildren (Ethan Jacob Helm, Zachary Jordan Helm, Emma Isabella Helm, Jackson Edward Broussard, Leeloo Alexandria NorlitaJane Helm, Emma John Helm, Connor Benjamin Broussard, Nora Lee Catherine Helm) and her sister Linda Neeley.

Flowers, plants or a donation to the Colorectal Cancer Alliance in her honor are appreciated.

https://impact.ccalliance.org/JaneYoung