Jane Thomas Ray

Jane was born in October 1950 to Ray and Barbara Thomas and had three sisters – Judy, Pat, and Jill. She married Mike Ray in 1972 and together they brought Max and Stephanie into the world. With the exception of a little time she spent in Torrey, Utah, she lived her life in Salt Lake. She graduated from East High School and earned a degree in social work from the University of Utah at the age of 59. While she had several jobs in restaurants and the insurance and customer service departments for Minit Lube/QLube, her last, and her favorite, was being a caregiver. That’s what she liked best – taking care of and spending time with people she loved. Jane was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease in 2012 and bravely battled it for her last 12 years.

Jane had so many talents. She could draw, arrange flowers, craft, and decorate houses. She was a fantastic cook and a talented baker and loved to share what she made. She and Stephanie loved to cook and bake together for any occasion – especially the holidays. She was an amazing seamstress and embroiderer and made the absolute best Halloween costumes.

She loved music and concerts. She knew all the words to all the songs and was never afraid to belt something out at the top of her lungs at any given moment. She saw all the amazing bands live, something we have never given up trying to top. She loved movies and getting all her friends and family together for annual Oscars parties. She couldn’t get enough of animals and babies and struggled to pass any by without giving them attention. We always had pets – Maggie, Burt, Sally, Dolsey, Fred, Hank, and her two cats, June and Mel. And she loved Max’s dog, Kaka, like he was her own.

She hated worms.

She loved us, her kids, more than anything and would have done anything for us. She fought all the good fights for us and did everything she could to make sure that we were loved and cared for. She was a Girl Scout leader, a room mother, and a hockey mom. She showed up for everything. She rooted for us every day in everything we did. She taught us how to be good people.

Jane was so kind. So funny. So nice. She cherished her friends and loved to make her people happy. She always made everything fun. We have never met a person who knew our mom and didn’t love her. We should all be so lucky to be as missed as she will be and to leave behind the mark that she made. While we’re brokenhearted that she left us much too soon, we’re so grateful that we had the time we did with her. And we’re so relieved that her battle is over and she can finally enjoy all her memories again.

We can’t express enough gratitude for the amazing love and care she received over the past 12 years. Thank you so much to all her caregivers, especially Brie at Alta Ridge Holladay, Becky Nitsuma, Stacy, Donna, and Kathy from SL County Aging Services, Emily and the staff at Alta Ridge Memory Care, and Sarah from Auburn Crest. We could not have made it through without you.

An open house to celebrate Jane will be held at Stephanie and Marc’s house on Saturday, August 24 from 4:00 – 6:00 pm. 3635 E Avondale Drive (7750 S) in Cottonwood Heights.