Jane Abbott Williams was born in Mountain Park, Oklahoma, on April 16th, 1932. She was the fourth and youngest child of Ethel Abbott McCain. Jane passed away on Monday, July 14th, at her home in Edmond, Oklahoma.
Jane grew up in Mountain Park and graduated from nearby Snyder High School. Being the baby of the family, Jane was a much-loved member. Her older siblings Billie Marguerite, Harry, and Jerry especially doted on her. One of Jane's fondest memories growing up was helping her grandmother Dr. Mary Ella Abbott Tatman at Dr. Tatman's clinic. Janie, as she was known, greeted her grandmother's patients and helped clean medical instruments.
Jane attended Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State University) and pledged Pi Beta Phi. She graduated from A&M with a BS in Elementary Education. In 1954 she married William "Bill" Davis Williams. The family grew to include two daughters: Allyson and Erin. Bill and Jane raised their family in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Texas. This devoted pair was married for 71 years.
Jane's first teaching position was in a one-room schoolhouse in which her charges ranged from first grader through eighth grader. While she enjoyed the creative challenges that teaching such a wide range offered, the second grade remained her favorite.
During her lifetime, Jane was a member of the Edmond, Oklahoma, PEO where she participated in many service projects. She was also a life-long member of the Presbyterian church.
In addition to teaching her students and exploring her hobbies–history and archeology–Jane's greatest passion was being the mother to her two daughters, grandmother to her four grandchildren, and great grandmother to her five great grandchildren.
While Bill collected vintage cars, the entire family enjoyed driving these cars in Edmond's annual 4th of July parade. A love of travel took the couple to almost every state in the Union and across the seas to explore France, England, and Wales. Of the fifty states, the couple loved Colorado the most having built a cabin in Cuchara, Colorado, in 1961. The "Cabin" proved a place for much memory making for the entire Williams family and friends.
Preceded in death by her mother and her siblings, Jane will live on through her husband, Bill, as well as her daughters Allyson and her husband Gardner Harris, and Erin and her husband Lane Bramblett. Jane is also survived by her grandchildren and their partners and spouses: Audrey Abbott and her partner Mike Dunn; Will Bramblett and his wife Meredith and their children, Brooks and Blakely; Colette and her husband Matt Ecton and their children, Nora Jane–named after her Great Grandmother Jane–and Murphy; Kelly and her husband Clayton Pruitt and their son, Beau. Jane was blessed with numerous extended family and many treasured friends; all these wonderful people were blessings in her life. We are especially grateful to our Mom's wonderful caregivers who will forever be a part of our Family: Lily, Pilar, Rica, Teresa, Barbara, Mary Len, Christine, and Debby.
Please join us on Friday, July 18 th at 3:00 pm to celebrate Jane's life. We will gather at the Stonegate Church, Cumberland Presbyterian, 17101 N. Western Ave., Edmond, OK, 73012.