Jane Cote

April 21, 1929 to January 18, 2021

Jane was the daughter of Carl and Bernice Willoughby and is survived by her daughters, Betsy Jane Hurles (Donald) and Sue Ann Cummings (Patrick). She has four grandchildren: Rose Marie Hanks (Patrick), Lori Beth Carpenter (Stephen), Mandy Jane Chandler, and Jordan Thomas Chandler (Dani). She has six great-grandchildren: Amelia, Austin, and Colleen Hanks, Elijah and Wesley Carpenter, and Connor Chandler. She was preceded in death by her parents, her sister Ramona Burrows, and her husband of 54 years, George T. Cote Jr. (Skip).

Jane was born in Moultonborough, New Hampshire and graduated from Meredith High School in 1947. She always wanted to be a teacher and attended Plymouth Teacher's College, graduating in 1951. During college, she met her husband, Skip, at a “Ladies' Choice” barn dance. Shortly afterward, Skip requested permission from Jane's parents to date. It was the beginning to their half century love story! They continued their relationship while Skip worked as a welder in Detroit and later joined the U.S. Air Force. Jane visited him in Alaska, driving from New Hampshire with his parents. Much to her friends’ dismay, she returned from Alaska without a ring. Jane later visited Skip while he was stationed in Savannah, Georgia; where they decided to elope to South Carolina because there was no waiting period there. They were married on July 24, 1953.

Jane continued to teach elementary school in New Hampshire even after marrying since she had signed a teaching contract for another year. When she completed her contract, she moved to Savannah to be with her husband. Their time together was cut short though, the Air Force sent Skip to North Africa. Before leaving, Skip moved Jane to Florida to be closer to her parents where their first child, Betsy Jane, was born. Over the next few years Skip and Jane moved to Maine, Florida, Colorado, and then back to Florida. While stationed in South Dakota, their second child, Sue Ann was born. Then Skip had assignments in Greece, New York, Massachusetts, North Dakota, and Michigan. He retired from the U.S. Air Force in Blytheville, Arkansas. Throughout all of these moves, Jane continued to teach elementary school, either as a full-time or substitute teacher. During her years in Arkansas, Jane taught First Grade for 17 years at Luxora Elementary, retiring in 1996. She loved teaching so much that she returned to Luxora Elementary and taught 6th grade for four more years. Overall, she taught for over 40 years and continued to keep up with many of her fellow teachers, students, and their families until her death.

In 2004, Jane and Skip moved to Alabama to be closer to family and an open military base. Shortly after Skip's death in 2008, Jane moved in with her daughter Sue Ann. She relocated with Sue and Pat to San Antonio in 2015 where she lived until her death.

Jane loved various types of hand-crafts throughout her life. She sewed clothes for friends and children in school clubs. She made many crafts from plastic-canvas as gifts to others. While she had knitted for many years, she focused on knitting baby blankets, hats, and bootie sets for preemies in neo-natal care units that were distributed through Threads of Love. At one point, she was knitting a complete set each week. In addition, she prolifically knit dishcloths; these dishcloths were not only used by family and friends, but were also given out to doctors, nurses, beauticians, and waitresses. Her kindness was not limited to handcrafts. She kept the postman busy sending many cards of encouragement. When she received 205 birthday cards from her loved ones to celebrate her 88th birthday, the common theme was remembrances of her generosity and kindness. Shortly before her passing, she proclaimed “Oh yes!” when asked if Jesus was her Lord.

She was deeply loved and will be dearly missed.