Jane Helen Bragg

Jane was born in Lancaster, Calif. on Nov. 3, 1929, to Helen Elizabeth Reynolds and Joseph Edgar Longuevan. Jane had two sisters, Josie and Mae, both of whom predeceased her.

Jane was witness to the remarkable events that have come to distinguish the 20th and 21st centuries: the discovery of penicillin; travel by airplane; exploration of space and the installation of an international space station; the development of cinema, television, digital cinematography, YouTube and streaming; the invention of jazz, rock 'n' roll, pop, rock, and rap; and the invention of computers, the internet and smartphones, etc. Despite the growing complexity of daily life, Jane stayed in step with the times!

Jane died after a short battle with cancer during the month that the Dow Jones Average reached 50,000 for the first time in history. Jane is survived by daughter, Rebecca Callahan and her husband, Richard Keys, of Newport Beach; granddaughter Frances Callahan of Reedley, grandson Alex Keys and his wife, Jacqueline Keys, of Orange; and grandsons Michael Callahan and Elias Callahan of Fresno. Jane had fraternal twin sons -- Michael and David -- who predeceased her in 2012 and 2020, respectively.

Jane was married three times. Her husbands were David Callahan, Robert Bragg and Aslam Lone. She also had two significant others -- Dr. Sam Williams and Karl Matus. Throughout her life, Jane had dozens of girlfriends with whom she enjoyed lunch and dinner on an almost weekly basis. As some of Jane's friends passed on, their daughters became her good friends -- Cindy Klein of Fresno and Kathleen "Kathy" Lund of Fresno, in particular.

Jane had three careers: first as a public school teacher (1948-1974), second as a real estate salesperson with her good friend, Helen Smades Klein (1975-1982), and third as a certified financial planner (1983-2023). The early years of Jane's teaching career were spent in Oakdale, Calif., where she made lifelong friends whom she visited regularly.

While Jane loved to teach, she found her real passion as a financial planner. Jane was fascinated by finance and the stock market! She was often quoted as an expert in business stories in The Fresno Bee. For her entire career as a financial planner in Fresno, Jane shared office space with Jimmy Wong and Jose Rivera, both of whom became Jane's good friends.

For many years, Jane was an active member of the Fig Garden Woman's Club, which supported local charities, awarded scholarships and held community events. She was also an active member of the Fresno County and City Republican Women Federated Club.

Throughout her adult life, Jane played bridge and, as a duplicate player, earned dozens of "Master Points" -- which means that she was a very good player! During her later years, Jane entertained herself by playing duplicate online with "the robots." They were no match for Jane!

For many years, Jane was an avid tennis player, skier, and swimmer. One of Jane's favorite things to do was to have friends and family over for a pool party. Jane also loved to travel, and made it a point for many years to travel to a different part of the world each year, frequently traveling with her niece, Bonnie Brown. Most of all, though, Jane loved to entertain, and was a pro at hosting dinner parties!

Jane will be buried in Fairhaven Memorial Park in Santa Ana, Calif., followed by two private celebrations of life -- one to be hosted in Fresno and a second to be hosted in Newport Beach. In lieu of flowers, friends and family should take a moment to reach out to each other to make plans to get together for lunch or dinner to keep Jane's "get-together" tradition alive.