Jane died in Sequim surrounded by her family after a nine-year battle with ovarian cancer. She fought for her life with dignity, courage and amazing determination. She touched and inspired many lives along the way.
Jane was born on March 19, 1948, to Harold and Adelaide Barcalow in Saginaw, Michigan. She attended Saginaw public schools and graduated from Saginaw High School in 1966.
She attended Adrian College from 1966 to 1970, graduating with a degree in elementary education in 1970 and a minor in music education. She later completed an advanced music education certification from the University of Georgia.
She taught elementary school in Birch Run, Michigan; Steuben, Maine; Agana, Guam; and Clarkston, Michigan.
While living in Richmond on Thames, England, she became certified to teach English as a second language and taught students in Richmond on Thames; Atlanta, Georgia; Brussels, Belgium; and Sequim.
She learned to speak German in Germany and French in Brussels, and studied Finnish as an exchange student in Finland during one treasured summer in high school.
She was an accomplished musician, learning to play the piano and the violin at an early age, but found that playing the organ was her greatest gift and lifelong passion. She was a passionate lover and composer of hymns, including "Pray for the Children."
She played the organ at churches in Saginaw; Adrian, Michigan; Birch Harbor, Maine; Boothbay Harbor, Maine; Agana; Weybridge, England; Lilburn, Georgia, Brussels; Decatur, Georgia; and Sequim.
Jane sang with choirs everywhere she lived and was the choir director at churches in Weybridge and Sequim, where she also directed a handbell choir. She also started and directed the Glee Club at the Sequim Senior Center.
She is survived by her husband of 43 years, Lawrence Stevenson; her son, Dr. David Stevenson of St. Andrews, Scotland; her daughter, Laura Ostmann of Mineral, California; her brothers, Ray Barcalow of Southgate, Michigan, and Robert Barcalow of Saginaw; her cousin, Mary Jane Barcalow Holat of Elgin, Illinois; her beloved daughter-in-law, Alison Stevenson of St. Andrews, and beloved son-in-law, Daniel Ostmann of Mineral; and adored grandchildren Mark, Dylan, Hannah and Thomas.
There will be a celebration of Jane's life at Trinity United Methodist Church, 100 South Blake Avenue, Sequim, today, November 17, at 2 p.m. There will be another celebration of her life in Boothbay Harbor in the summer of 2014.
Interment will be at the Barcalow family plot in Fairgrove, Michigan.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation in her name to the Peninsula Singers in Sequim, Dewey Ehling, conductor, www.peninsulasingers.org.
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