Jane Ormsby Stevens
May 15, 1927 – Sept. 19, 2002Jane Ormsby Stevens of Boulder died Thursday, Sept. 19, 2002, in San Diego of complications from a stroke. She was 75.
The daughter of Isaac Ormsby and Floriene Rosier Ormsby, she was born May 15, 1927, in Gravette, Ark. She married John Davis in 1946. They divorced in 1965. She married Roger E. Stevens on Feb. 7, 1977, in Boulder.
She lived in Boulder since 1974.
She earned a master’s degree in education from San Diego State University. She was a member of Kappa Delta Pi, Pi Lambda Theta and Beta Sigma Phi honor societies.
Mrs. Stevens worked as a professor at Red Rocks Community College and a high school teacher at San Dieguito High School in Encinitas, Calif.
She held a captain’s commission in the Colorado Civil Air Patrol and flew search-and-rescue missions in the Rocky Mountains.
She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the International Aerobatic Club, the Antique Airplane Association of Colorado, the National Women’s Flying Club and Los Amigos de Arte Popular.
She was a California state championship figure skater in 1972.
She enjoyed skiing, dancing, hiking, traveling, swimming, scuba diving, camping and Tai Chi. She studied Spanish, Chinese and Arabic. With her husband, she hiked the Rockies, the Great Wall of China, the Australian Outback and the Sierra Madres.
She rebuilt a 1940 Taylorcraft and flew it in the All-Women Transcontinental “Powder Puff Derby” in a historic 1977 flight from Palm Springs, Calif., to Tampa, Fla., and was the only entrant to complete the race in an antique airplane.
“Jane donated herself to others on passing, and because of her generosity someone else will see the world with her eyes, and a bone marrow recipient and burn victim will have new lives,” her family said.
Survivors include her husband of Boulder; a son, John Davis of Silverthorne; two daughters, Jo-San Arnold of Encinitas, Calif. and Elizabeth Davis of Boulder; three stepdaughters, Wendy McLaren and Sydney Stevens, both of Boulder, and Caroline Goff of New York; two stepsons, Josh Stevens of Boulder and Paul Stevens of Ardmore, Penn.; two grandchildren; and four stepgrandchildren.
A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Oct. 19 at Unity Church of Boulder, 2855 Folsom St. Interment will be at Stockton Cemetery in Stockton, Mo.
Contributions may be made in her name to San Diego Hospice, 4311 Third Ave., San Diego, CA 92103, or in the form of a pledge to be an organ donor.
Copyright, 2002, The Daily Camera, Boulder, Colo.
Published in the Daily Camera, Boulder, CO, October 11, 2002
STEVENS, JANE ORMSBY DAVIS May 15, 1927 to Sept. 19, 2002 Jane Stevens, 75, of San Diego and Boulder, Colorado, passed away beautifully and peacefully, Thursday afternoon, September 19 at San Diego Hospice. … She taught Home Economics at Hoover High School and San Dieguito High School in the 1960’s and was adored by her students. She, and her family were active members of the Solana Beach Presbyterian Church in Solana Beach and First Presbyterian Church in San Diego. She was a member of Kappa Delta Pi, the honor society in education, Pi Lambda Theta, the national honorary society for women in education and Beta Sigma Phi.
While at San Dieguito High School, Jane was the adult supervisor for the Girls Guild and the frequent chaperon for the high school girls competing in the U.S. Surfing Association events and the Betty Crocker “Homemaker of Tomorrow” competitions. She worked with the San Diego County Health Dept. and the Black Nurses Association in Southeast San Diego on sickle cell anemia projects. Jane moved to Colorado in the 1970’s where she taught at Red Rocks Community College. She participated and placed in state and national skating pairs dancing competitions. She loved music, played the guitar and was a lifelong dancer. She participated in square dancing, folk dancing, swing dancing, tango, and practiced Tai-Chi.
—San Diego Union-Tribune, published September 28, 2002