Jane Philp Moreland

Jane was born on the 14th of December 1937, in Beaumont, Texas. She was a graduate of Southern Methodist University and of the Creative Writing Program at University of Houston.

She was a member of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church. She was a former teacher and a freelance writer of poetry and fiction. She was a member of The Junior League of Houston, Kappa Kappa Gamma, the National Society of The Colonial Dames of America, PEN Center USA West, and PEN Texas.

Jane was an exceptional writer, winner of the Iowa Review contest, a judge for PEN Southwest's fiction contest, a widely published poet, a writer of finely tuned short stories, and a master of Scrabble.

Throughout her life, Jane maintained a positive and loving demeanor, facing each new challenge with kindness and grace. She combined a keen mind with a wry sense of humor and the elegance of a Southern lady. She was a wonderful mother and loving person who will be forever missed by her family, especially her children, and her friends.

The family would like to share one of Jane’s poems which (we feel) touches on the experience of having a loved one with Alzheimer’s.

YOUR ASTONISHMENT

Again, you shock at events: your sister gone mad.

How did it happen?

Why weren't you warned?

There were signals: hairline crazings in porcelain glaze,

the first wet seepings, deepening fissures,

then nothing held back.

Nothing is constant. Things exist in transition

like the tides. Plums in a bowl

rot from the seed out. There are signs.

You see life in stills, glossy prints on black album pages,

sequences viewed in your haste as singular frames:

a smile, a rose, one wave and then another.

You miss the slow shrivels, the gradual swells,

the flushings and fadings, shading of petals from scarlet to garnet

before stem and calyx stand bare.

Nothing warns you. You see your mother's face,

miss her smile's stiffening, the slow graying of her flesh.

You see open water, not green's gradations

as the sea floor falls below reefs.

[by Jane P. Moreland, published in the Georgia Review]

Jane was preceded in death by her parents Mary Louise Shepherd Philp and Roy M. Philp, Sr., of Beaumont, and her husband Jon Marvin Moreland, Jr. of Houston.

She is survived by her children Jon Marvin Moreland, III, and wife Margaret Robertson Moreland of Houston, Robert Edward Moreland and wife Inma Corral Moreland of Los Angeles, California, daughter Mary Louise Moreland of Houston; her grandchildren Robert Leighton Moreland, Ana Louise Moreland, James Jon Moreland, Henry Mark Prendergast, and James Marvin Prendergast; her siblings Catherine Philp Holtzclaw and husband G. Thomas Holtzclaw of Crystal Beach, Texas, and brother Roy M. Philp, Jr. and wife Sue Phillips Philp of Beaumont, Texas; and her sisters in law Ann Moreland Moss and husband William S. Moss, Jr., of Houston, Jean Moreland Jones of St. Simons Island, Georgia, and numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, and special friends.

The family would like to express their deepest appreciation to Dr. James L. Pool for years of care and concern. The family also extends heartfelt thanks for the special care Jane received from Sharon Blackman and Zina Daniels, from Crossroads Hospice, as well as from the fine community at the Belmont Village Hunters Creek, including Rosette, Courtney, Raji, Takitha, Elizabeth, Ayana, Brenda, Perla, and Bruce.

A Memorial Service is to be conducted at two o’clock in the afternoon on Thursday, the 12th of August, at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, 717 Sage Road in Houston, where the Revs. Martin J. Bastian and Lisa R. Neilson will officiate.

Immediately following, all are invited to greet the family during a reception in the nearby Bagby Parish Hall.

In lieu of customary remembrance, the family requests with gratitude that memorial contributions in her name be directed to the St. Martin’s Episcopal Church Memorial Fund, 717 Sage Road, Houston, Texas 77056, or to the charity of one’s choice.