Jane Woods Hobson

April 16, 1932 – December 26, 2023

Born in Chicago, Illinois, to John Coleman Woods and Lucinda Putt Woods. She attended Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School and Maine Township High School in Park Ridge. She is a graduate of Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois, where she became a lifelong member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. In her junior year, she studied at The University of Geneva in Switzerland. She completed her graduate studies in Education at the University of Memphis.

She began her teaching career at Barbers Point, Hawaii, then taught in Coral Gables, Florida, and in Memphis, Tennessee, at Georgia Avenue and Macon Road Elementary Schools and at Kingsbury High School. As a science educator, she worked to beautify the school grounds wherever she taught and her handiwork is still enjoyed in urban areas across Memphis. Long before “environmental sustainability” became a common phrase, she organized school clubs to teach nutrition and environmental skills. She built a wetlands pond, grew white and brown cotton, created a butterfly garden, and was one of the first to use solar panels in her school projects. She attended continuing education programs at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, Nike Recycling Center in Oregon, and NASA Space Center in Texas.

While staying home to raise her children, she began her serious volunteer work with the Girl Scouts, as the first Memphis leader to integrate troop meetings and activities, and later taking her scouts on adventures to Mammoth Cave, the Appalachian Trail, the St. Louis Gateway Arch, and camping/canoeing trips across Tennessee and the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. Scout service projects included supporting the Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association, Arlington Developmental Center for the Disabled, Porter Leath Home for Children, and Theatre Memphis.

As a member of LeBonheur Club of Memphis, one of her first artistic projects was building a “Snoopy’s Doghouse” craft cart, followed by a “Lucy’s Library” book cart to provide activities for the hospitalized children. She received permission from Peanuts creator Charles Schulz to use the beloved cartoon characters on the carts and on murals throughout the hospital. When he sold his rights to Hallmark, he wrote a letter giving the Club continuous permission to use his characters.

Through the years, she volunteered with PTA and Athletic Booster Clubs, Memphis City Beautiful projects, Memphis Botanic Garden, Memphis Museum of Science and History, TeamRead, and MIFA “Meals on Wheels”.

In 2013, she received a Jefferson Award for her public service to the Memphis community. Descriptives included, “a pioneer”, “a one-woman dynamo” and “Don’t tell her something can’t be done. She’ll find a way.” Anyone who knew her witnessed her dedication to making the world a better place.

She loved her Memphis neighbors with whom she shared her love of baking – sorghum breads and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. She made beautiful hand-stitched and smocked gowns, dresses, and rompers for her family, and she painted storybook characters on furniture and walls for her grandchildren.

Her later years were spent at The Glenview in Louisville, Kentucky, where she continued to enjoy her lifelong love of reading, bridge, and friendships with neighbors.

She was a member of Evergreen Presbyterian Church, then Mullins Methodist Church in Memphis, and then, Second Presbyterian Church in Louisville, Kentucky.

She is survived by her children Kay Lowe (Michael), Amy Parker (Frank), and Jim Hobson (Kim), 5 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren and her sister Martha Woods Porter (Richard) and her family.

A Celebration of Life will be held at The Glenview, 5100 US Highway 42, Louisville, KY 40241, on Saturday, January 27, 2024, from 2 to 4 in the afternoon.

Interment will be in Ridgewood Cemetery, in Des Plaines, Illinois.

Memorials may be made to: Girl Scouts Heart of the South, 825 Valleybrook Drive, Ste. 102, Memphis, TN 38120 or Memphis Botanic Garden, 750 Cherry Road, Memphis, TN 38117 or Hosparus of Louisville, 6200 Dutchmans Lane, Louisville, KY 40205 or the charity of your choice.