Eda Jane Elliott

Jane Elliott, 63, also known as Eda Jane Sallee Elliott, passed away at INOVA Fairfax Hospital on July 24, 2012 after a lengthy illness. Jane, who was born in Belton, Texas, on August 25, 1948, loved her family and friends unconditionally. She graduated from Belton High School in 1966, and was among the first generation in her family to go to college. She graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1974 and from Texas Women’s University with a Masters in Library Science in 1975. For many years she worked in the Fort Worth public schools as a librarian, and she loved her time as the librarian of Trimble Technical High School in the mid 80s. Jane was committed to her husband, David, and supported him without reservation when she and he decided, when he was in his mid-30s, that he should go to medical school. After his graduation, she went with him to jobs in Marietta, Ohio, Blackwood, New Jersey, and finally, Jasper, Texas, before his untimely death at age 46. After the death of her soulmate, Jane moved to Houston, to live closer to her sister. When her eldest daughter Mary was pregnant with her first child, Jane decided to leave her life-long home of Texas to be closer to her daughter and her grandchildren in northern Virginia. Jane, or “Grand” as she came to be known, loved her two grandchildren beyond words. Jane was extraordinarily proud of her daughters, Mary and Jenifer. Family, both her family and her husband’s family, was extremely important to her.

Jane loved to read, often to the exclusion of the outside world until she finished a book, and she took up painting after her children left home. She was a spectacular painter, although she always found fault in her work and critiqued others art mercilessly. She loved to experience new things and places and loved to travel. She especially loved to travel with her good friend from high school, Lynna Parker. She was always ready for an adventure. She was a generous, kind, warm individual, who always remembered her nieces, nephews, and grand-nieces and nephews birthdays. She loved with all her heart and will be sorely missed by all who knew her.

Jane is survived by her daughters, Mary Ann Elliott O’Donnell and Jenifer Erin Elliott, her son-in-law, Keith O’Donnell, her granddaughters, Lily and Erin O’Donnell, her sister, Mary Ann Cole, her brother and sister-in-law, Rick and Glenda Sallee, her sister-in-law, Ann Rottman, and numerous friends, nieces, nephews and cousins. Jane was preceded in death by her husband, David Chandler Elliott, and her parents, William Alexander Sallee and Joy Allen Durham Sallee.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the American Diabetes Association, or to the Center for Alexandria’s Children, 1900 North Beauregard Street, #200, Alexandria, VA 22311. A celebration of Jane's life will be held in central Texas on September 2, please contact Mary O'Donnell at [email protected] for more information.