Pauline Jayne Lebsack (known to her relatives and friends as Jayne, or PJ) passed away on May 7 at the age of 77 in Gresham.
After living and traveling throughout the world, Jayne chose the Portland area when it came time to retire.
Although she never chose to become a member, she was very committed to and involved in the Multnomah Monthly Meeting from the time she started attending in the early 1990s until she was no longer able. She was always generous with her time and financial support.
Jayne was born in 1942 in Great Bend, Kansas. Her father was on active duty in the US Navy while her mother lived with her parents in a nearby farmhouse.
After World War II the family moved to Rock Springs, WY, then to Silver Spring, MD, and finally to Denver in 1952. They remained in the Denver area where Jayne graduated from the New George Washington High School in 1961. She attended DePauw University and graduated in 1965 with a BA in Spanish.
After teaching for a year in Denver, she moved to Anchorage where she worked as a dispatcher for the Alaska State Troopers before entering the travel industry and embarking on her 25-year career with Alaska Airlines. This gave her the opportunity to follow her lifelong dream of traveling the world. During the time she lived in Anchorage, then in Tucson, and finally in Portland, she traveled extensively throughout the US, Central and S. America, Europe, S. Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.
Jayne enjoyed hiking (another lifetime passion), loved many styles of music, and was an avid film buff, often attending every showing of the Art Museum's annual film fest. She studied T’ai Chi at PCC from the early 1990s, and continued studying it with the White Horse Practice group, and finally at the Rose Center Senior Center. She also loved gardens, natural spaces, and cats. She gener- ously supported many nonprofits including the Portland Art Museum, Meals on Wheels, Oregon Humanities, Friends of the Columbia Gorge, the Oregon Natural Re- sources Council, the Artists Repertory Theater, and EMO Environmental Ministries. She never married and lived alone (though usually with one or more cats). She had a wide circle of friends – and a quirky sense of humor.
She is survived by younger siblings Milton, Jr., Linda, Mary Ellen (“Mel”), and James (Jim).
A tree can be planted in memory of Jayne Lebsack by visiting here.