Jane Blackstone Cleaves died at her home in Yarmouth on January 4, 2018, after a long battle with cancer. Jane graduated from the Central Maine General Hospital Nursing in Lewiston in 1968, then began a long career in nursing, spending most of her career at Maine Medical Center. She loved the profession, working first in the oncology unit, then the cardiac unit, where she became the head nurse and mentor to her younger colleagues. Inspired by Jane, her daughter and one of her grand-daughters have become nurses.
Away from MMC, Jane was involved in many organizations, serving on the boards of the American Heart Association and Maine Behavioral Health, and was a past president of the Yarmouth Lions Club. She was the pillar of the First Universalist Church in Yarmouth, serving a president of the Board of Trustees for many years, joining several of the groups with the church, and helping to organize the bean suppers. Jane went out of her way to get to know and help her neighbors right up until her death. Her memorial service on January 20th was held in the Yarmouth Performing Arts Center, as her family correctly determined that the First Universalist Church could not seat all who wanted to attend.
Among her survivors are her daughter Jennifer Ayer ’87 of Richmond, her son Brian ’90 of Yarmouth, and cousin Dorothy Reed McAloney ’66. The January 24th edition of the Maine Sunday Telegram carried her full obituary.