Remembering Jane Read

Jane Veal Read

October 7, 1918 - August 11, 2016

Jane Veal Read was born Oct. 7, 1918, in Saffordville, Kansas to Bert and Mary Stone.   Mary Jane Stone was the 9th of 10 children.  Her mother died when she was six years old and she was raised  for some time by her older sisters Helen and Ruth but by high school she was back living with her father. 

Jane graduated from high school at sixteen as the salutatorian of her class. She attended college and received a temporary teacher’s certificate after two years and began teaching in Toledo, Kansas, a small town 6 miles from her home town of Saffordville. She had only 5 students in her first year of teaching and received $55 per month. Her second year she taught the third and fourth grades in Americus, Kansas. She received $100 per month in her second job and bought her first car, a '35 Chevy.  She taught in Americus for four years and then went back to summer school at Emporia State College where she met her future husband, Allen “Bill” Veal.

Bill and Jane were married in 1942 in Emporia, Kansas. Bill was teaching in McCloud, Kansas, in 1942, when WWII began. He was drafted and eventually ended up receiving a commission in the Navy as a 2nd Lieutenant and was sent to Chicago to learn to be a meteorologist. Bill and Jane moved to  Chicago where they spent nine months and then Bill was given his first assignment at Whidbey Naval Air Station near Oak Harbor, WA.  Their first son, Glen, was born in 1944, while they were stationed there and two years later son, Arnold, was born.

Bill and Jane loved the Northwest and vowed to stay here after the war ended. To insure they would have a place to live after the war, they purchased 10 acres and a small home on Guemes Island, sight unseen, in 1945.  After the war ended, they moved to Guemes with Glen and Arn in 1946, where Bill got a job teaching at Anacortes High School. Their third son, Gary, was born in 1948, on Guemes.

In those days, Guemes was accessible by a 6 car ferry and had no electricity.  Bill was instrumental in bringing power to Guemes, helping to form the co-op of Islanders that privately paid for the cost of installation. Power came to Guemes in 1949. It was that year that they purchased the 80 acre farm across the road from their small home and began farming which included dairy cows, pigs, growing beans and eventually beef cattle.  Bill died in 1971, at the age of 54 from a heart attack. He had taught school at Anacortes High School for 25 years.

Jane moved from the farm to West Beach on Guemes in 1973, where she lived for the rest of her life.  Glen and Arn took over the farm in 1972, continuing to raise beef cattle to this day. In 1975, Jane married long time friend Murray Read, who had been a long time summer resident since 1946.  Murray was from Indiana and had lost his wife, Millie, in 1974. Murray and Jane spent 21 lovely years together on Guemes living on West Beach. They were both active in the community and a perfect couple who had a lot of fun together.  Murray passed away in 1996 at the age of 93. Jane lived alone for the last 20 years until her passing.

Jane was active in many Island organizations and had many friends who sustained her in her later years.  She played bridge, Scrabble, did crossword puzzles and always had a sharp mind including a remarkable memory.

Jane was preceded in  death by her parents, her siblings, her husbands Bill and Murray and her son Gary.

Jane is survived by her son Glen Veal (Janice) of Guemes, son Arnold Veal of Guemes, step-daughter Margaret Read McDonald (Jim) of Des Moines, WA., grandsons  Adam Veal (Angie) and great-grandchildren Ari, Oscar and John of Guemes, Eric Veal (Jessica) of Preston, WA, step-grandaughter Jenny Whitman (Nat) and step-great grandchild Cordelia of Bangkok, Thailand, step-grandaughter Julie (Tom) Martin and step-great grandchildren Matilda and Murray of Des Moines, WA.

A memorial service will be held at 2:00, Sunday, September 25, at the Guemes Community Center. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to the Guemes Historical Society, 4549-H Guemes Island Road, Anacortes, WA 98221.

Mom, apple pie and the American Flag in the 4th of July parade, 2007.

 

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