Elizabeth Jane Bacon

Elizabeth Jane Revis Bacon, world traveler, avid reader and matriarch to a vast family scattered around the globe, died January 13 surrounded by loved ones at a care center in Fairfax County, Virginia. She was 96.

“Betty Jane” as she was known in her youth, was born in Manville, N.J., on April 17, 1929. Her family moved to Philadelphia, and she graduated from Simon Gratz High School at age 16 after skipping multiple years of school due to her dynamic intellect.

She was born into the Great Depression and, the eldest of five girls, she helped raise her sisters through hard times.

Still a child during World War II, she joined a group of youths who sewed flannel shirts for kids in the U.K. desperate for clothing as the brutal conflict raged on.

She married war veteran John Bacon when she was 19 -- a marriage that lasted 73 years until his death four years ago. For years they would dance to their favorite records in their living room and laugh at their growing pack’s futile efforts to mimic them.

She ran a tight ship at home, with little idle time allowed for her eight children and a niece, Jennifer Revis, who she also raised for six years. All were ordered to read a book or go outside and play – even if it meant “playing tiddlywinks with manhole covers.” But she received no complaints at the dinner table, and her recipes for beloved staples from meatballs to stuffing have been handed down through the generations.

Her professional career included two decades with the Educational Testing Service, where she rose to director of a training center.

She loved to travel, her journeys taking her to China, Russia and around the world.

She is the mother of eight, grandmother of 16 and great-grandmother to 13 and counting. In her last years, nothing brought her more joy than to hold those babies.

Survivors include her eight children and their spouses, Camille Bacon-Smith, Bonnie Greenspan (Robert), Kristine Vega (Rufo), Beverly Bacon, Melanie Bacon, John Bacon (Julie), Robin Bacon Hoffman (Jeffrey), and Ward Bacon (Karen), and all their children and grandchildren.

A memorial mass is planned for Tuesday, 2pm, at Good Shepherd Catholic Church, 8710 Mount Vernon Highway, Alexandria, Va. Interment at Arlington National Cemetery will take place at a date to be determined. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude Hospital.