Jane Ella Sheffield

January 5, 1915 - October 27, 2014

"Mama Jane" rested her head on her pillow Sunday night and woke up in the arms of Jesus on Monday morning.

Jane Ella Maske was born on January 5, 1915 on a rice farm in Amelia, Texas to Miles Washington Maske and Mattie Elam Seely Maske and lived there along with her older sister Mary Lou until they moved to Beaumont, Texas when she was a very young child. As a school girl, she took piano, violin, and painting lessons and was a very creative and artistic young lady as well as a very capable student. Jane Ella or "Babe" as she was called completed school in the Beaumont's South Park School District and also attended South Park Junior College which would later grow into Lamar University. In 1936, she completed a teaching degree program at San Marcos Teachers College which is now Texas State University in San Marcos Texas.

She became an elementary teacher, a career that she found very rewarding.

While a college student attending church one Sunday morning in Beaumont, Texas, Jane met a young man named James Marlin Sheffield who was a telegraph operator for the Magnolia Railroad. Their acquaintance turned into a four year courtship and they were married on August 5, 1939 in Beaumont, Texas. Marlin accepted a position with the Gulf Oil Corporation which developed into a forty-two year career. During the early years of Jane's and Marlin's marriage the couple lived in Beaumont and Houston and then moved to several different East Texas locations residing in company housing in "oil camps". While living in Sour Lake, Texas their family grew to include their three beloved children: Jimmy, Mary, and Marleen. After living in Overton, Texas for six years the family relocated to the west Texas town of Odessa in 1960 after Marlin was promoted to a supervisory position. The Pipeline division moved its offices to Midland but the Sheffield family became home owners in Odessa where Jane became employed by the Ector County Independent School District. She resumed her teaching career which had been placed on hold until the youngest child, Marleen, began second grade. She had been a stay-at home mother and homemaker which she loved but had used her teaching skills in Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, and other church related capacities. Jane immensely enjoyed teaching first grade students at Burnet Elementary from January of 1960 until her retirement in June of 1978, She was a gentle, soft-spoken and creative teacher whom coworkers and many former students fondly recall upon hearing her name.

Although the flat arid open spaces of Odessa contrasted greatly with the Gulf Coast and piney woods of East Texas, Jane fell in love with West Texas and considered it her home until she relocated to live with her daughter Mary Lewis and her husband Jim in McKinney in 2009.

In addition to being a teacher, Jane was an active member of her church and community She and Marlin were active members of the Crescent Park Baptist Church for many

years and later affiliated with First Baptist Church as retirees. After being widowed in 1986, Jane participated in the Naomi Sunday School class and continued to attend senior adult KIT activities and was especially enriched with many of the trips that were organized for the seniors.

Jane enjoyed volunteer work and was a member of the Hospital Auxiliary and the Juliettes. She was also involved in the Odessa Retired Teachers/ School Personnel Association and served on various committees. She was often called upon to use her creative skills to decorate tables for banquets and luncheons.

Jane was an accomplished artist who used pastels, water colors, and oils to create lovely still-life, landscape, and pastoral scenes and she enjoyed craft projects and was adept at composing short poems She had many interests including collecting spooners and other antique glass objects. Although both her sight and hearing had declined in the past few years and she could no longer enjoy many of her previous interests, she could still work the daily crossword puzzles and Scrabble grams with the help of caregivers or family members, Even during her final year, Jane showed an amazing ability to recall and recite scriptures, song lyrics, the words of hymns, and multiple verse poems.

In 2005, Jane suffered the sorrowful loss of her younger daughter, Marleen Griffin.

In the summer of 2009, after Jane suffered a mild heart attack, her children thought it best that she no longer live alone at the age of 94. She agreed to relocate to McKinney, Texas with Mary and Jim Lewis, her daughter and son-in-law. After the sale of her Odessa home in the spring of 2010, Jane was considered a McKinney resident and many of her special pieces of furniture, paintings, and other treasured items were incorporated into the Lewis home. Jane was included in many of their social gatherings and life activities and she attended the First Baptist Church of McKinney and affiliated with the Ruth class. Until 2014, she was able to make road trips to Waco to see her son and daughter-in-law Jim and Janet Sheffield and Matthew and Leticia Sheffield (grandson and wife) and to Austin to visit granddaughters Lauren and Lacey Lewis.

Jane also enjoyed special visits from other family members who traveled from various places to see her. Mama Jane was blessed to have the companionship and tender loving care from several wonderful caregivers during the course of the past five years.

During the past four months Jane's health began to decline after a fall, a decrease in mobility, and the effects of congestive heart failure. After a long summer which included several weeks of treatment in a rehabilitation setting and a hospital stay, Jane returned to Lewis home with the services of Hospice Plus whose providers showed great competence and compassion, treating her with both love and dignity. Mama Jane oftened questioned why she had been allowed to live to be so old, but she was often reminded by her loved ones that God was using her each day to bless others in a meaningful way. Many connections were made, friendships formed, and life lessons shared as friends, neighbors, caregivers, family members, and other loved ones came into the presence of Mama Jane to minister to her or to receive her blessing.

A testimonial of Divine networking that took place as a result of Mama Jane's presence in the Lewis home was the opportunity of Mary and Jim to meet a young man whom they consider to be their "son by choice". Corporal Garrett Hannon of the U.S.Marine Corps, grandson of Mary F. Stewart, Mama Jane's primary caregiver, made a lasting impact upon the Lewis family when Mary introduced him to them when he was a senior in high school. Having brought up Garrett on her own, Mary Stewart asked Jim to mentor him. Both fellows proved to be a blessing to each other and a father-son bond was sealed. Both families are forever grateful to the Lord for working through Mama Jane to create this special relationship.

During the early hours of Monday, October 27th God was ready to reclaim His heavenly treasure and to reunite her with the loved ones who predeceased her: her parents; her husband, Marlin Sheffield; her sister and brother-in-law Mary Lou and Alfred Sandidge; and her beloved daughter, Marleen Sheffield Griffin. She is survived by her son James Miles Sheffield and daughter-in-law, Janet of Lorena, Texas; her daughter Mary Evelyn Lewis and husband Jim of McKinney; her son-in-law Gary Griffin of Abilene, Texas; her grandchildren: Matthew Sheffield and wife Leticia of San Marcos, Texas; Lauren Lewis of Austin; Lacey Lewis of Austin; Julie Sheffield of Lorena; J.J. Griffin and his wife Trinity of Colorado Springs, Colorado; several nieces and nephews and their families; and many dear friends of all ages who claim her as their "Mama Jane" including Mary Stewart and Garrett Hannon.

A visitation with family and friends will be 12:30 to 2:00 pm Saturday, November 1, 2014 at the First Baptist Church Parlor. Funeral services will be at 2:00 pm Saturday at First Baptist Church with Rev. Curtis Brewer officiating. Interment will follow at Sunset Memorial Gardens.

Services entrusted to Hubbard-Kelly Funeral Home.