Jane was born on March 1, 1939, in Charleston, Mississippi. She grew up riding horses on her family cattle farm in Oakland, Mississippi, in rural Yalobusha County in Northern Mississippi.
After high school, Jane attended and earned a degree from the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, having taken a bus down from Oakland without having arranged for housing or school registration in advance. Being the independent and confident young woman she was, she took care of both on day one.
After college, she moved to the French Quarter in New Orleans, where she met the love of her life, Horace “Clint” Pray, of Crowley, Louisiana. They were married in New Orleans on August 31, 1963 on her beloved’s birthday, and were thereafter blessed with three children: Brian (Monique) Pray, Shelley (Kirk) Guidry, and Jordana (Greg Gilbert) Pray Gilbert. Jane and Clint moved to Covington in 1973 and were members of First Baptist Church of Covington for 50 years. Jane loved her weekly Bible Study, The Mary Martha Group, and often shared that week’s message with her family. In 1985, they purchased a country home outside Madisonville where they kept horses and Jane raised chickens and guineas.
Jane also enjoyed tennis and especially bridge. Until recently, she was still playing bridge once a week at Beau Chene in Mandeville. She also enjoyed having lunch and playing bridge regularly with her dear friends Janice Boyce, Marvelle Donaldson, and Maria Legendre.
Jane was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. In addition to her three children, she is survived by seven grandchildren: Brittany (Christian) Anders, Laurel (Mat) Drasner, Caroline (Joel) Smith, Kirk “Andy” (Annie) Guidry, Brennen Gilbert, Ella Gilbert, and Grant Gilbert; and seven great grandchildren: Noah, McKenna, Hazel, Daisy, Rueben, Kirk III, and Hank; and by one sister, Patsy Burt Williams. We will all miss her immensely.
She was predeceased by her husband of 56 years, Horace Clint Pray; parents, George Lee Burt and Hattie Berry Patterson Burt; brothers, Joe Lee Burt and George “Dale” Burt.
We will be celebrating Jane’s life at the family farm in Madisonville on Saturday, May 4, at 11:00 am. Friends and family are invited to attend. She will be laid to rest in the family cemetery in Oakland, Mississippi.
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