Jane Lovejoy Jones: March 16, 1927 – March 3, 2017

Jane McRae Lovejoy Jones died on Whidbey Island Friday, March 3. She was born in Seattle on March 16, 1927. While she grew up in Seattle, Jane spent much of her childhood on Whidbey Island.

She maintained a strong connection to Coupeville and her seafaring heritage throughout her life and moved to Coupeville in 1984, back to her Whidbey Island roots and the Lovejoy homestead.

Jane came from a long line of sea captains. Her great-great-grandparents, Captain William Robertson and his wife Mary Jane, were the first to settle in the Coupeville area in 1852. Their son, John Robertson, built many of the structures still standing on Coupeville’s Front Street.

Her great-great-grandmother, Calista Kinney Lovejoy Leach, was first here in 1854. She met her future husband, Captain Howard Bentley Lovejoy, while visiting the Coupe family during this voyage. The Indians called her Kol-lis-tal-lu, meaning “Good Indian Woman” and recognized her by that name many years later.

Jane’s grandfather, Captain Howard Bartlett Lovejoy, married Captain Robertson’s granddaughter, Leah (Lillie) Todd. He built most of the old Victorian homes in Coupeville.

Jane’s father, Captain Stanley Lovejoy, carried on the family seafaring tradition. Captain Lovejoy had his masters of oceans at an early age. He finished his career as the longest-serving Puget Sound Pilot.

Jane’s maternal grandparents, Alexander McRae and Mary Hall McRae, emigrated to Snohomish from Prince Edward Island, Canada, in the late 1800s. Jane’s mother, Mary Elizabeth McRae, was born in Snohomish in 1896. Alexander (Sandy) and Mary and their nine children settled in Everett.

Jane majored in music and anthropology at the University of Washington and was a gifted soprano. In 1951, Jane married Wilbur Lee Jones, a marriage which lasted for 66 years until her death. After living in Spokane, Wash., and California, they settled in Edmonds, Wash., where they raised three children.

Jane was active in Bible study fellowship, and served as chair of the Innis Arden Chapter of Music and Art, which founded and funded the Cornish School of the Arts in Seattle. She was an active member of the Coupeville United Methodist Church and sang in the choir for many years.

She was also an active member of The Daughters of the Pioneers of Washington. She helped research and write the book “Sails, Steamships and Sea Captains,” with proceeds going to the Island County Historical Society. Jane served five years on the Historic Advisory Committee for the Town of Coupeville.

Jane is survived by her husband, Wilbur Lee Jones, and the families of their three children: Paul Jones, his wife Leila Jones, their children Calista Jones and Leah Jones, Leah’s husband Nasser Ghassemzadeh and their son Kai; Elizabeth Hancock, her husband Alan Hancock, their son Benjamin Hancock, his wife Wendy Hancock, their son Terrence, Alan and Elizabeth’s daughter Emily Hancock and her husband Josh Kensok; Caroline Morse and her husband, Mike Morse, their daughter Bonnie Haupt and her husband Alex Haupt.

A memorial service will be held at the Coupeville United Methodist Church.