Clarice Jane Mullikin

She was born April 10, 1941, in Anna, Illinois, the daughter of Clarence Fern Simpson and Virginia Mae Plott Simpson, and was baptized in her family's Methodist church. After graduating from Southern Illinois University, she married and became a mother to Joan, Dan, and Brad, raising her family in southern Illinois. Jane was an artist by instinct, and she had the rare nerve to make a living at it: her love of ceramics grew into a wholesale ceramic business of her own in Omaha, Illinois.

Her later years took her to Indiana and then to Florida. Along the way, a deepening love of Christ led her into the Catholic Church, which became the center of her life. Long before most people her age had found their way online, Jane was there — hosting media sites, running forums, and posting daily on what she always called "her web site." Through it she introduced strangers to one another, offered a word to people who needed one, and quietly became a familiar voice of faith to more people than her family will ever be able to count.

At St. Raphael Catholic Church in Lehigh Acres, Florida, she gave herself to the life of the parish and to its missions. Closest to her heart was her prayer for mothers and children. She spent countless prayerful hours on behalf of women facing difficult pregnancies, and worked to give a voice to those who had none.

Through every chapter of her life, there was almost always a faithful canine companion at Jane's feet. Very seldom was there a season without one, and each was a genuine companion rather than a pet. In these last years, that presence was Luckett, who never left her side, keeping faithful watch over her night and day. At her own wish, she will be laid to rest with the ashes of her beloved Mercedes, together again.

Preceded in death by her parents and her siblings, Jane was the last of her generation of the Simpson family.

She is survived by her children, Joan Downen (Kevin), Dan Downen (Cori), and Brad Downen (Paula); her seven grandchildren, Seth, Jonah, Blake, Grace, Joseph, Leah, and Julia, whom she loved dearly, often from a distance; and her great-grandson, Jasper. She is also survived by extended family who were dear to her, and by her caretakers, Tammy and Brooke, who became family in their own right.