Jane Ormsby Davis Stevens

STEVENS, JANE ORMSBY DAVIS May 15, 1927 to Sept. 19, 2002 Jane Stevens, 75, of San Diego and Boulder, Colorado, passed away beautiful and peacefully, Thursday afternoon, September 19 at San Diego Hospice. Her husband of twenty five years, Roger, her loving daughter Jo-San Arnold, and her grandson Ethan Arnold were by her side. She had complications from a second recent stroke. Born May 15, 1927 to Floriene Rossier and Issac Ormsby in Gravette, Arkansas, Jane was a woman of the Ozarks. She lived her youth in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri and on the rivers of our nations heartland. Her lineage goes back to Scotland and as a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution she has ties to both Andrew “Stonewall” Jackson and Meriweather Lewis of the Lewis & Clark Expedition. Many of her family members served in the Missouri house. She also shares lineage with the Osage Indian Tribe. The Christian values of the midwest have been the driving force in her life. San Diego County residents will remember her as Helen Jane Davis, as she was a full time resident of San Diego and Encinitas in the 1950′s-1972. At that time she was married to John Davis, the father of her three children. She attended San Diego City College and received her degree from San Diego State in 1961, also obtaining a teaching credential and a Masters Degree of Education. 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