Jane B. Habermas

Jane was born as Beryl Jane Bryan in Marcellus, N.Y. on August 17, 1929 to William Jennings Bryan and his wife Gladys Frances Mann Bryan. William was a farmer, a life resident in the town of Skaneateles, N.Y., and a member of the Sheppard Settlement Grange. Gladys Frances Mann was an English girl of distinguished lineage and social position (her family tree goes back to William the Conqueror AD 1066, and includes Sir Walter Raleigh and William Pitt, Prime Minister of England). A great friendship was struck with another young English girl who Gladys met in a war worker’s center in London during WWI, and that bond led her to come to America a few years later to visit her dear friend. It was during that visit to Marcellus in 1920 that she met William, fell in love and married, and became a farmer’s wife.

Jane was the youngest of the three children that the couple would have before Gladys died of hyperthyroidism in 1930, when Jane was only 18 months old. Jane had an older sister Marie and an older brother John. Gladys’ mother and Jane’s grandmother Ada Pitt Mann Line, wanted Jane and her sister Marie to move back to England to benefit from a privileged upbringing, but William would have nothing of it. He wanted to keep his family together and close to him, and so Jane stayed in Marcellus and her father got help raising his children from a housekeeper and his sisters until William’s death in 1938. After William’s death, his sister Florence Coir took in the 9 year old Jane and her brother John, moved them to Detroit, and raised both kids as her own along with Florence and George Coir’s three other children Grace, Donald and Herman. The Coir family provided Jane with stability for the first time in her young life.

Jane attended grade school and subsequently McKenzie High School in Detroit where she was a shy but intellectually bright and curious young girl. She was a very good student with a passion for science and medicine. She was also a very gifted athlete and would later share with her own children how she enjoyed and excelled at competitive swimming and track and field in junior and senior high school. After graduation from high school, Jane attended Wayne State University where she pursued a Bachelor’s Degree in Medical Technology. Jane and her sister Marie were the only members of the Bryan and Coir families to attend college and earn a degree. It was during a Freshman English class where Jane met Bob Habermas who would become her life-long partner and soul mate. Jane and Bob dated through their college years and their relationship deepened. Bob gave her his fraternity pin in 1951 and asked her to marry him. They both graduated in June of 1952, Jane with her degree in Medical Technology and Bob with a Bachelor’s in Chemistry. Jane immediately started working as a medical Technologist at Grace Hospital in Detroit while Bob started post graduate work in chemistry at Wayne State University. The couple married on November 28, 1952 at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Detroit Mich. Holy Cross was the Habermas family church where Bob attended as a child. After their wedding, Jane took adult catechism classes from Pastor Born who had married them, and was later confirmed and joined the church.

After about 11 months of marriage in September of 1953, Bob received notice that he had been drafted into the army during the Korean War period. Bob was immediately sent to Ft. Knox Kentucky for basic training and then was stationed at Ft. Meade in Maryland. Jane left her job and joined him there. Their first child, Janelle (Jan) Marie was born there in May of 1955. Bob was honorably discharged in September of 1955 and the young family moved back to Detroit to begin their new life together. The couple settled in Livonia Michigan and bought their first home. Bob was hired as a research chemist at the Detroit Edison Company where his father, Edward had worked. The young couple welcomed a new son Paul Edward to the family in March of 1958, and another daughter Linda Jane in August of 1962. Jane and Bob joined the congregation of St. Paul’s Wisconsin Synod Lutheran Church where Jane and Bob became very active members of the church, and their children later would attend grade school there.

During the years while she was raising her children, Jane was actively involved in numerous callings. She taught Sunday school for most of her married adult life, and served as a role model for many a 12-year old. Jane was also a gifted artist, having inherited the talent from generations of famous artists before her on her mother’s side of the family. Jane was incredibly talented at drawing and watercolor painting, and worked for a time doing copper reliefs and sculptures. While she loved the outdoors and enjoyed drawing and painting landscapes, she really excelled at doing portraits of her family and their pets, friends and their kids and grandkids. She had an amazing ability to capture the personality and the spirit of each individual on paper, and everyone who ever received a portrait gift from Jane cherished it. Jane was also a prolific photographer, and would take hundreds of photos on a single trip – all before the advent of digital cameras. She would bring dozens of rolls of film on each vacation, and always end up buying more!

In addition to her artistic pursuits, Jane continued to be a voracious reader of the sciences and would gobble up monthly editions of Scientific American, Nature and Science magazines. She found a unique way to combine her love of science with her strong faith in God and His word. She became one of the Founders of the American Creation Society (non-profit) of Michigan, whose mission was to support various scientists from around the country and to publicize their work supporting the Biblical version of God’s role in the creation of the world. Jane organized speaker programs for the scientists, and was often asked to speak as she had become an expert on the subject of Creationism. Jane worked closely with many members of the Institute for Creation Research where she leveraged her artistic skills and illustrated biology textbooks and numerous filmstrips in support of the organization’s causes. Amidst her work with creation research, she additionally grew concerned for the public education school system and its effect on our youth. She published a book to help parents and children cope while understanding God's teachings.

After their children grew up, graduated from college and moved to California and to Texas, Jane and Bob started thinking about retirement. They toyed with the idea of joining generations of snowbirds before them spending winters in Florida and summers in Michigan. After visiting their oldest daughter Jan and son-in-law Greg in Southern California, they fell in love with San Diego. They found the Ocean Hills Country Club just as they were opening a new section of the development, and at Jane’s urging they bought a lot. After their new retirement home was built, they rented it for a few years while Bob worked towards an early retirement, which he took in March of 1991. They quickly sold their home in Michigan and moved out to San Diego in April of 1991. Jane had always been an avid seamstress, and she used those talents to make all the drapery for their new home. She and Bob designed the landscaping for their yard, which was beautiful and was selected several times to be part of the Ocean Hills garden tours. Jane and Bob became avid golfers and joined their respective women’s and men’s golf leagues at the Ocean Hills Country Club, where they played several times each week. They met and enjoyed many, many wonderful friends and neighbors over their 20+ years living there.

The three most important things to Jane Habermas were her faith in Jesus Christ, her devotion to her beloved husband and family, and finally her passion to serve the Lord. Jane was an incredible mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She loved children and was always working with them to help them learn and grow, and to share her faith. She opened her doors to so many struggling young children to help them find their spiritual way. Her greatest legacy are in the children and grandchildren that she leaves behind who are better human beings because she was such a strong and guiding influence in their lives. Jane had a zest for life, and she touched hundreds of people’s lives along her life journey and helped to strengthen them. Her legacy is also carried on through all of those that she met and touched along her way. Her ambition and lively energy derived from her supernatural understanding of the meaning of life in spite of trials and tragedy that she faced. Her strength came from the Lord and is reiterated in her favorite verse, Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

Jane entered into eternal peace and rest on January 25, 2011 after a long and courageous fight against cancer. Jane is survived by her loving husband Bob, brother John Bryan and his wife Jean, sister Grace Coir Beardslee, Alma Coir wife of Don, Bea Coir wife of Herman, eldest daughter Jan D’Alvise and son-in-law Greg Kaminski, son Paul Habermas and daughter-in-law Donna and their sons Michael and Rob and his wife Jane and their sons Christian and Brody, and her youngest daughter Linda Habermas and son-in-law Don Palmer, and Linda’s daughter Danielle and son Neil, stepson Rick Crumpton, and Don’s son Trey Palmer.

We are all so blessed to have had Jane in our lives, and are comforted in knowing that she is in a better, more glorious place. We all look forward to being reunited with her someday in heaven. We love you Mom!

"His Lord said unto him, well done, thou good and faithful servant: you have been faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler over many things; Enter thou into the joy of the Lord." Matthew 25:21

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." 2 Timothy 4:7

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