Jane (Jones) Rounsavell |
| Posted 2009-12-10 by Sharon |
| The Wickenburg Sun, Wickenburg, AZ November 19, 2003, B10 Jane Rounsavell, beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, passed away Nov. 12, 2003 in Wickenburg. She was 88. She was born May 13, 1915 on a 40-acre, timber-covered homestead in Harrison Flats, Idaho. Her father, Edward Jones, was a Welsh farmer from Iowa and her mother, Helen, was a refined, genteel woman from Chicago's "upper crust." Jane was the second of three children. In the mid-1930s, during the depths of the Depression and in the space of a few years, her family lost both father and oldest son-Edward Sr. to bone cancer followed by Edward Jr. in an auto accident returning home after graduation as an architect at the University of Minnesota. Jane responded by completing a course at Kinman Business University in Spokane and was hired on as a bank teller in Coeur d'Alene in order to support her mother and younger sister. While working at the bank she caught the eye of another Coeur d'Alene native, Wally Rounsavell, whom she married in 1940. The onset of World War II and the beginning of a family eventually steered her to Pocatello in 1946 as the wife of a State of Idaho public welfare administrator with two small children. The arrival of a third child, who was mentally retarded, caused Jane to respond to becoming, along with her husband Wally, a pioneer in helping create the Idaho Association of Retarded Children in the 1950s. Though family responsibilities reigned supreme, she found the energy to develop in leadership in the Order of the Eastern Star. Jane worked her way up the "chairs" in her Pocatello chapter. This culminated in her election for a year term as the Grand National Musician for the Order. This was a fitting acknowledgement of not only her hidden talents for leadership but her skill in, and her love for, the piano. When domestic duties lightened in the 1960s Jane discovered her true vocation as an entrepreneur. She proceeded to buy real estate to rehabilitate and sell for a profit, which she reinvested in other properties. Jane is survived by her children, Dan Rounsavell of Portland, Nancy Hall of Scottsdale and George Rounsavell of Phoenix; sister Wata Williams; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. Memorial services will be held Saturday, Nov. 22 at 2 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church of Wickenburg. The Rev. James Longstreet will officiate. Jane's family would like to extend their heartfelt thanks to all those at My Father's Retirement Ranch for the care and compassion shown Jane during her stay there. Wickenburg Funeral Home was entrusted with the arrangements. |
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