Jane Bingham Fawcett

Jane Bingham Fawcett, age 84, of Falmouth, Maine died on Sunday, July 15, 2018 at Sedgewood Commons where she succumbed to a cardiac arrest after a long illness with Alzheimer’s disease. Fortunately, she enjoyed contact with both daughters that day, having had lunch with Julie, after which the two sat in the garden and shared a phone call with Lisa.

Jane was born in Boston, Massachusetts on August 2, 1933 to James Cunningham Bingham and Ruth Hayes Bingham. She was raised in West Medford, MA until the age of ten when the family moved to Concord, New Hampshire. She attended Concord High School, enjoyed many summers at Camp Huchins on Lake Ossippee, NH then in 1953 graduated from Colby Sawyer College with an Associate Arts Degree. Afterwards she worked for the Dartmouth Travel Bureau in Hanover, NH, where she met and married her late, ex-husband R. Richard Fawcett, Jr. on June 8, 1957. They returned to his home town of Canton, Ohio where they raised two daughters and spent summer vacations on Squirrel Island in the Boothbay Harbor Region of Maine. Jane spent 50 plus years in Ohio then retired to Maine in 2007.

Jane lived to serve others and during her years in Canton established herself as a professional volunteer you would want on your board. She was an idea person and someone who could raise money. She became president of the Junior League of Canton, Ohio Inc., the Children’s Aid Society, the Aultman Hospital Women’s Board, and was the first woman appointed to the Canton City Planning Commission. She was Chairman of a Canton City School Operating Levy Campaign and a founding member and first president of the Canton Ballet, the Art Institute Museum Guild, and the Center for Women in Transition where she initiated and launched The Grief Center that is now part of the Compassionate Care Center of Aultman Hospital in Canton. She also devoted 22 years to Pathway Caring for Children, an agency matching foster homes with neglected, abandoned and abused children where she served as president of the board and later as development director.

One of Jane’s proudest accomplishments was co-founding The Canton Ballet. Having a dance background since childhood which included ballet, tap and batton, she explained, “I thought it was a shame that a town as culturally advanced as Canton didn’t have a ballet.” In 1965, with Jane as board president and Suanne Ferguson as artistic director, the two founded the Canton Civic Ballet. She was surprised to be told, “ballet doesn’t stand a chance,” since Canton was a football minded town and home to the Professional Football Hall of Fame. Despite this resistance, The Canton Ballet presented its first public performance, "The Nutcracker," to sold out audiences at Timken High School in 1969 and has grown to become the state’s largest pre-professional ballet company with a national reputation.

Of her volunteer work, she said, “Volunteering is more than just responsibility. It makes you feels good to know you’ve helped someone else, and there’s so much growth, learning and fun involved. You also make so many friendships with people you might not otherwise have met.”

Jane was an outgoing, gregarious person who was not afraid to engage strangers in conversation – the person she was sitting next to on an airplane, the wait staff at a restaurant, or the person standing next to her in the grocery line. Engaging others came easily to her, and it was in this way that she connected with others and created friends out of strangers. This ability served her well in her years as a volunteer and later in life during her career as a professional fund raiser. She was never afraid to approach anyone for help with a campaign about which she was passionate. As a result, she felt blessed by the large number of friends she made.

One of Jane's deepest loves was for Squirrel Island where she summered her entire life. She volunteered at the library, was on the board of the Historical Society, a member of the Ladies Improvement Society and a happy member of the Grandmother’s Club. She loved the surf on south shore, the red garnets found in the rocks, and the sea glass that washed up on the beaches. She gathered bayberry and rose hips growing along her sidewalk into huge arrangements residing on the dining table. She was known to say, “I live in Ohio, but my heart belongs to Maine.”

Anyone who knew Jane knew she had a passion for chocolate. She loved dove dark chocolates and later in life was never without brownie bites often offering you one while in her company. Chocolate doughnuts, cake, brownies or candy always started her day and continued throughout the day. Chocolate themed cards and signs adorned her walls with sayings such as, “Money Talks, but Chocolate Sings.”

She is survived by her two daughters, Lisa Fawcett of Tenafly, New Jersey and Julie Fawcett of Portland, Maine and granddaughter, Zoe Bonerbo.

Jane is proceeded by her mother, Ruth Hayes Bingham (1958) of Auburn, ME., father, James Cunningham Bingham (1979) of Granite Lake, NH, and brother, James “Jackie” C. Bingham, Jr. (1951).

A memorial service honoring Jane's life will be held on Saturday, August 18 at 1:00 at Woodfords Congregational Church, 202 Woodfords Street, Portland, ME 04103. A reception will follow.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to: the Canton Ballet, Cultural Center for the Arts, 1001 Market Ave. N., Canton, OH 44702, phone 330-455-7220, www.cantonballet.com, Pathway Caring for Children, 4895 Dressler Road N.W., Suite A, Canton, OH 44718, phone 330-493-0083, www.pathwaycfc.org, the Compassionate Care Center of Aultman Hospital, The Aultman Foundation, Attn: Charitable Gifts, 2600 Sixth St., S.W., Canton, OH 44710, phone 330-363-2366, http://www.aultmanfoundation.org/.