Kathryn Jane Cobb Roper

Jane was born in Little Rock, AR, on Oct. 26, 1928, the daughter of Homer R. and Kathryn B. Cobb, both deceased, and the sister of William Samuel Cobb, also deceased. She was graduated from North Little Rock High School in 1946. As a young woman she worked as a comptometer operator at a packing plant in Little Rock, had nursing training, and later worked at Baptist Hospital in Memphis.

She worked in the registrar’s office at Southwest TN Community College from 1989 until she retired in 2006.

“She was an avid reader,” recalls Lynne Catron, a longtime friend and neighbor. "She was a self-taught scholar in history and politics, and was always willing to share her knowledge when asked.” Jane was a lifelong Democrat, and was willing to share her thoughts on that, too.

Jane loved to cook and often shared her fudge, divinity and Christmas date loaf with friends. She also did sewing and needlework, especially needlepoint and petit point.

“She turned that love into a small business after The Press-Scimitar closed in 1983,” said Catron, “opening ‘Made in Memphis’ in the John Simmons Gallery of shops on Poplar. It gave other craftsmen whose incomes were affected by the paper’s closing an opportunity to sell their hand-made items. It was there that I was drawn to Jane because of her optimistic spirit and ‘take on the challenge attitude’ .“

“I was always amazed at Jane’s wide circle of friends,” said Brown A. Flynn, a Press-Scimitar friend. “But it was natural, given her thoughtfulness and generosity, especially with her time. Jane never drew a paycheck from the Press-Scimitar, but it was her ‘family.’ For all the years Charlie worked there, she was a surrogate mother to all the paper’s new young staffers, especially those new to Memphis. Her kitchen and her table were always open for a meal and a morale boost.

“And how Jane loved her dogs, especially if they were dachshunds! I think the phrase ‘you lucky dog, you’ was coined by some pooch envious of Jane’s miniature dachshund Sister Kathryn. It was fitting that at Sister Kathryn’s first birthday party, she got the princess hat to wear – not too happily, but she did.”

Ken Jones, another Press-Scimitar friend and, like Charlie, a musician, said, “Although Jane played no musical instrument, she always took part in our jam sessions. She bought a train whistle (her father was a railroad man), and would toot on it when we played the ‘Orange Blossom Special’. She also tried her hand at the tambourine.

“What I remember most, though, is that she loved upbeat comedy songs, such as ‘Put Another Log On the Fire,’ and hated the depressing unrequited love songs. ‘Play something happy,’ she would yell, and only Jane could yell that loud. She was an upbeat person, and it was personified in her choice of music.”

From the time she was small, Jane loved physical activity, especially swimming, biking and dancing the polka with her friends from the Polish neighborhood in North Little Rock. Even in her 70’s, she often spent an hour or two each day riding her bike on the streets near her Midtown home.

“A week in Hot Springs for the horse races was a yearly tradition,” said longtime Press-Scimitar friend Margaret McKee. “She studied intently the Racing Form and the picks of various race track touts. Then she placed her bets, a wager on each race, but never more than $2. At the end of the week, she meticulously tallied up the totals. Jane always won, even though sometimes no more than forty cents. But she was as pleased as if she had won the lottery.”

No matter where she lived, Jane surrounded herself with flowers, in an old whisky barrel bursting with marigolds in one yard, in a concrete planter spilling purple petunias onto a shady front porch in another. Well into her 80’s, she would sit for hours on a small Dean’s Milk carton in her front yard, pulling weeds from the flower beds by hand, Sister Kathryn on a long leash by her side, while her friend, James Washington, tended to the heavy chores. Her labor of love was rewarded with a Yard of the Month award for her neighborhood in 2011.

As her health declined in recent years, James drove her to a wide assortment of doctors. She was “Miss Jane” to some and a friend to all, from her oncologist to Sister Kathryn’s veterinarian. No matter the illness or its severity, Jane always found humor in her problems, laughing at times at the situation but most often at herself.

Jane reveled in small joys, a caramel cake for her birthday, lunch at a favorite restaurant with a friend, a movie that made her laugh. She treasured her friends, shopping for their Christmas presents all year long, often buying them small surprises. An expert needlewoman, she made them needlepoint pillows and petit point eyeglass cases and pin cushions until failing eyesight and arthritis made needlework impossible. But her greatest gifts to all who knew her were her zest for life, her gift of laughter, her generous heart, and her indomitable spirit.

Jane leaves two nieces, Mary Kathryn Hoener, Scottsdale, Ariz., and Cheryl Cobb Floyd (husband Owen), Little Rock; a nephew, William Samuel Cobb Jr., Denver, Colo.; great-nieces and great-nephews Breana and Kyle Hoener and Kristin, Kathryn, Will and Ian Cobb; and a great-great-nephew, William Samuel Cobb IV.

A celebration of Jane’s life will be held at Memphis Funeral Home, 5599 Poplar, at 10 a.m. Saturday, October 24. Visitation will be held from 5-7 p.m. Friday, October 23, also at Memphis Funeral Home. Friends will gather after the Saturday service at Corky’s (Jane’s favorite restaurant), 1740 N. Germantown Parkway, Cordova.

In lieu of flowers, a donations account has been set up for the veterinary care of Jane’s precious dachshund, Sister Kathryn, who is in the loving care of Jane’s friend James Washington. Donations can be made to Acct. #6446 at Stage Road Animal Hospital, 4359 Stage Road, Memphis 38128, (901) 382-1950.