Jane E. Telford

Jane Ellis Telford passed away peacefully on Wednesday, July 13, 2016 after a lengthy illness. Janie was born in Foreman, Arkansas, on November 13, 1935, to parents Gene and Janie Ellis. She attended all twelve grades of school in Foreman, graduating from Foreman High School in 1953. She attended Texas State College for Women, presently Texas Women’s University in Denton, graduating in 1957 with a Bachelor of Science degree. While at college she was a RedBud Princess, a Cotton Ball Duchess, and a member of the Philomathia. On graduation she worked for Texas Instruments in their International Department. In 1960 she married Dr. Van Q. Telford, then a captain in the US Air Force. They had two sons, Quincy Ellis Telford and Bradford Gray Telford. Her parents, her older sister, Martha Sallye, Ellis Stiles Severe and a brother, Eugene Gray Ellis, predecease her. She is survived by her husband of fifty-five years, her older son Ellis, his wife Sarah, their two daughters Leonora Jane and Elizabeth Joy, her younger son Brad and his husband Mark Deaton plus her older brother J. W. Ellis, two nieces Sallye Young and Rebecca Epps and two nephews Jay Ellis and Gene Ellis. As well as her goddaughter Markeeta McNatt Brown. She is also survived by caregivers and close friends Willie Govan and Kathy Hatley. A small family ceremony at Sparkman Hillcrest will precede cremation, her ashes to be scattered in her favorite site. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to The TWU Foundation for the Van Q. and Jane Ellis Telford Endowment for the Little Chapel in the Woods, PO Box 425618 Denton, TX 76204.

When she laughs, pearls appear:

When she removes her veil, the moon is seen;

The universe is too narrow to contain her;

Yet she is enclosed in my heart.

The Blind Poet of Tudela