I was saddened to hear of Miss Foley's passing but rejoicing knowing that she is in the presence of our saviour Jesus Christ.  I met Miss Foley while working at Lenbrook.  She was a delight to talk to and take care of.  She had a nickname for me "tingle" which I will cherish.  She is greatly missed!

Each of us, Aunt Jane's nieces and nephews, has a remarkable story to tell of our summer trip with Aunt Jane around the age of 12 or 13. It is hard to think of Aunt Jane without remembering my turn to travel for several weeks one summer with her, my cousin Hank, and my Grandma Foley (Aunt Jane's mother named Willie, a  whole different story). It was a trip that started in Atlanta traveling north through Williamsburg, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and New York City, then west to Indianapolis and Oklahoma City, then south to New Orleans, and finally returning to Atlanta all in her white Mercedes Benz with red leather seats. I thought that car was the coolest thing ever, but also an extravagant expense for my Aunt of limited resources. So I remember during the trip asking Aunt Jane about the car. She told me she chose that car because it was very reliable and she liked it a lot. Then I went on to watch her drive that car for twenty years. In that car, I saw something of my Aunt; an extraordinary woman of ordinary means making the very most out of what she had. What a way to have figured out how to travel through life. And I don't mean in a Mercedes.
 
On a more personal level, something I shared with my Aunt was a love of poetry. The most memorable thing that Aunt Jane ever gave to me is a book of poetry. The Best Loved Poems Of The American PeopleSelected by Hazel Felleman, published in 1936. Presented originally to her mother, Willie, in 1956 by the Savanah Wesley Class of Grace Methodist Church, her mother gave it to her in 1961 while she was still in the classroom teaching. And on a visit to see her in 1986 she handed this book of poetry to me  inscribed  Dearest Warren Lee. Words are a powerful thing and Aunt Jane knew this. She knew the meaning they could carry, and she knew how to use them as she did. In those first three words Dearest Warren Lee she said she knew me intimately, cared for me, and loved me which I knew long before I ever even got to the salutation I found at the end of her writing Love Ya Aunt Jane.
 
In the personal message she wrote to me in the book she specifically pointed out that I should read a poem written by Edgar Guest titled Home. And so I'd like to make a suggestion to you as she did to me. If sometime in the future, the thought of Jane runs through your mind, go and find the poem Home by Edgar Guest, sit, and read it. The sentiment, the simplicity, and southern style expresses so well things about living Jane understood and treasured. I found myself doing just that the day I got the call that she ascended in to heaven. She is Home.
 
-Warren Lee Foley

Laugh out Loud

We were all squeezed inside Gramma Willie's brand new blue '62 Chevy Impala  the windows wide open beneath a sunny, late-morning sky  leaving Anastasia Island, and heading toward the Bridge of Lions to cross into the wonders of ole' St. Augustine. Everything was bigger than me. I was maybe four or five, in the middle of the back seat, pressed against the only woman who in that moment was real to me, or safe for me  my mother. Dad was driving. Gramma Willie was on the far side of the front seat. Aunt Jane was between them, animated, her large mouth moving, her broad eyebrows alive, her uncountable bracelets tinkling bright music with every single gesture that she used to draw her mother and to draw her brother into whatever story it was that she was telling to tease a smile from their faces. From where I sat behind and beneath her, she looked very big indeed, even bigger than my dad, her baby brother.

Suddenly, Aunt Jane exploded in a laugh, a laugh bigger and louder than any sound I'd ever heard anyone make openly or joyfully. It was unsettling, and I did what I knew I could do when I was unsettled  I turned to the only woman who mattered. My mother looked down into my eyes and asked, What is it?

I know exactly where we were. My memory denies me a great many things, and cheats me, almost vindictively, of the strength and hope that lived once in the great and pleasant moments I can no longer clearly recall. But! But I know exactly where we were on that late, sunny morning, when I looked up into my mother's face and said in a whisper, She laughs loud.

Aunt Jane wasn't yet to me an aunt. She wasn't even a jane at that moment to me, a tiny, timid, self-absorbed little boy. She was just a she, a woman, and a very big one, doing things I'd seen no man or woman ever do. She was laughing explosively, openly, joyfully, just as the large stone lions guarding the bridge into St. Augustine appeared behind my mother's head through the window of Gramma Willie's brand new blue '62 Chevy Impala.

She asked my mother what I had said. My mother, my guardian, my lion, told her.

He said you laugh loud.

Anyone who knows Aunt Jane as an aunt, as a jane, or even as just a she, knows precisely what two words next left her lips.

Well, shugga' 

Everything goes down easy, and fear flies away, with a little shugga.

I remember little. And much of what I do remember is misshaped or distorted by what I want or what I don't want those memories to be. But that she who made herself many things  big sister, bomb inspector, educator, broadcaster  that woman who made herself mine, who made herself my aunt, that woman Jane Esther Foley cheated memory of its tyrannical whimsy on that day when she taught me  with a little shugga  one unforgettable lesson  laugh out loud.

My Dear Miss Foley,

You helped to solidify my love and appreciation for literature and the written word -- which means that you had a great effect on my life.  Thank you so much!

With Love - Clara E. Barnett

We sure miss her very much and thought so highly of her. My name is Jackie Pruitt Lipnisky  Cape Coral Florida. I graduated in 1959 from Old Murphy it is a vocational school now. I have been married 53 years and have threee children and three grandchildren. Thanks for the note baqck from her family.

What a joy for the family of Jane to hear from all the Murphy High students. She did love teaching and each of you, and she talked about you forever.  She loved the reunions also. We love you because of what you meant to her. The Dave and Tom Foley families

Greetings to all!
Ms. Foley was my English teacher during my senior year at Murphy. She was passionate about education - making sure that we did our work. 

May she rest in peace...enjoying her eternal reward for her labors here on earth.

Jane Foley was a special friend to me and introduced me to Murphy High School faculty as a new teacher in 1960.  I corresponded with her since my retirement from the Georgia School system in 1961 and move to Chattanooga Tn. We were car pool buddies.  I visited her my last time at her most recent residence in 2013.My condolences to the family.  RIP Jane. Dorris McBride, Chattanooga Tennessee

I loved being in Miss Foley's class.  She made learning a joy and I will always love that about her. Thank you so much, Miss Foley, for caring about your students.  We were truly blessed to have had you as a teacher.

Miss Foley was a much loved teacher of  Murphy 's class of 1959.  She inspired , taught and enthralled us in a charming and often witty  way.   One December  she had  two or three of us a day  do "something"  for Christmas.  It could be anything, a decoration we'd made, a poem recited,  just anything we wanted to do to deepen the Christmas Spirit of the others.   Because we liked her to read to us(she'd play all the parts),   I read "The Littlest Angel", and she praised me so it almost made me feel she had thought I wrote it myself.   We did a lot of reading that year, and learned a lot, too.  She was one teacher I never forgot .

Miss Foley was my favorite teacher at J.C. Murphy High School.  She was a stellar and dedicated teacher expecting a student's best and teaching more than the book.  In 1955 or 1956 she drove three or four of us to see MacBeth performed at UGA. Such a lasting, happy memory for me of a wonderful teacher and lady.

On behalf of the Fulton High School Class of 1953, I wish to express our deepest sympathy to the family.  Miss Foley was a favorite and great teacher.  She will be missed by all.  May the knowledge that others share your loss be a solace to each of you.  May God bless you.

dear enaj yelof; you will always live in my memory and, I hope, in my etermal life.  doug

Miss Foley was an important person in my life.  She sponsored the school newspaper, The Murphy Eagle, and expected us to perform as seasoned newspaper people. Her influence impacted many lives. She was a gracious lady and a phenomenal teacher.

I xsure do remember Jane Foley so much. My prayers go out to her family at this time.
I was weondering how old she was.

Miss Foley was my English teacher in 10th grade. She was the best and most challenging teacher of that year, and she always has had my respect and affection.  My condolences to her family and to all the Murphy Hi Eagles who experienced her grace and teaching.
Beverly Crockett Pearce

I sincerely hope that Miss Foley can hear my words from where she is now.  She regarded every student with respect and demonstrated to us all how to be a good person.  I learned in the class with Miss Foley because she engendered in me the desire to be a better student.

Miss Foley was not only a favorite teacher of mine, but was also a friend of my Mom's (Dee Parker, who taught at Murphy in the late 1950's). My thoughts and prayers will be with the family during this time of loss.

May God bless you and your family in this time of sorrow.

Jane Foley was a great lady, a great friend, and a great teacher. The entire Murphy High School community is saddened by her passing, and will miss the wit and wisdom of her long and wonderful association with us. How blessed we were to have the 94 years of her wonderful life....

Miss Foley was my distributive education teacher my senior year at Fulton High School in Atlanta in 1951 and I have thought of her many times over all these years.
Mary Frances (Bryant) Edwards
Griffin, GA

Hi there, please accept my sympathy for your loss. May the Almighty God be your source of strength at this time of grief.  May he grant you peace as you look forward to the time when 'He will call and Jane Will answer' and all of you will re-unite in Peace. Take heart.

I remember Miss Jane Foley who worked in Communications with the Atlanta Public Schools.  She knew almost everything and I learned a lot from her.  Rest in peace.

OBITUARY

Jane Esther Foley

February 20, 1920 – January 24, 2015

H.M. Patterson & Son-Oglethorpe Hill Chapel

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