Alta Georgia Drane

Alta passed away peacefully in her home on 11 September 2025 at 12:20am at the age of

89. She was born on 15 February 1936 in Rochester, Minnesota, the 4th of 5 children to George and Lulu "Alice" (Stackhouse) Jones. She moved to Eatonville with her family when she was 5 years old. She eloped with John Edward Drane on 19 September 1952; they lived in Tacoma for 10 years before moving to Bremerton. They were married 53 years when John passed away on 20 July 2005. Together they had four children: a set of twins, John Edward Drane Jr of Silverdale and Gerald "Jerry" Allen Drane of Tacoma; Jean Joal (Drane) Yager (Richard) of Bremerton and Aaron Robert Drane (Amy Hesketh) of Port Townsend. Alta was the grandmother of four: Grant Yager (Marie) of Battle Ground, Sarah (Yager) Brill (Darin) of Spokane, Amanda (Yager) Picard (Jimmy) of Franklin, Tennessee and Galen Drane of Poulsbo. She was the proud Great Grandmother of nine: Kianne Bell, Alexa Yager; Jerome, Vivian, Peter "Theo", and Jubilee Brill; James, Titus and Lucas Picard. Alta is survived by a sister, Violet Alice (Jones) Drew, Bowdler of Seaside Oregon. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, son Gerald (2 days old), sisters Beatrice Dolman and Beverly Cronkhite and brother John Jones.

Alta was employed in the Bremerton School District for 20 years. She was the Counseling Secretary at Bremerton High School when she retired in 1992. John and Alta enjoyed taking photography classes at Olympic College, then practicing their technique when traveling or using family members as subjects. Alta actively supported John in the Bremerton Elks, served as Ladies of Elks President in 1995-96, was a member of the Puget Sound Genealogical Society and Sylvan Way Friends of the Library. She enjoyed attending the Sylvan Way Library Book Group, Central Valley Garden Club and going to the PSNS gym.

When she wasn't reading, working in her garden or exercising, you could find her practicing the piano, preparing for her weekly piano lesson. Other notable groups were her Piano Theory Group, Wednesday Wacky Women Bible Study and the Travel-n-Fun 1181 RV Group.

She unintentionally began a tradition of writing birthday letters to family members, each featuring fond memories, a photo of the recipient, and a picture of herself.

A Celebration of Life for Alta will be held Saturday, October 11, 2025 from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM at Miller-Woodlawn Funeral Home, 5505 Kitsap Way, Bremerton, WA 98312. A graveside service and reception will follow.