Jun 21, 1921 - Feb 26, 2018
It is with sadness, that the family of Jane Rose Loosmore announces her passing. She died peacefully on February 26, 2018 in Castlegar, after having come to live in Nelson in 2016 to be near family. Her death followed from complications due to a hip fracture. Physically active until just months before her death, she continued to take outdoor walks until after her 96th birthday.
She set a standard for many of us to follow, to break restrictive traditions to live life healthfully and generously. She was a supporter of equal rights and world peace.
Jane was born in Hague, Saskatchewan in 1921, as Johanna Rosa Eder to a family of eleven children before the Great Depression.
In her younger adult years she trained as a teacher and received her Bachelor of Education from University of Saskatchewan. She moved to British Columbia circa 1948 where she taught school in several locations, meeting her husband Robert Loosmore in Vancouver in 1951.
Jane and Robert (Bob) had a wonderfully rich marriage spanning more than 50 years, living in Vancouver, Bella Coola and then Kamloops, until Robert's death in 2006.
Most of their years were spent in the Bella Coola Valley, together teaching, raising a family, building their home, growing their food by gardening and small livestock as well as fishing for seafood in the inlets of the area.
They enjoyed their lives very much there and became embedded in the "Valley" culture, loving the people, the natural surroundings and the famous long road that leads in and out of this remote community.
In 2012, Jane published the book Cool School, her concept of an ideal education system that could serve children regardless of what support came from the child's home. A child, herself who grew up in poverty, with next to no resources, a supportive education system was her key to freedom and happiness. She wanted, more than anything, to see the same opportunity for children who were in similar circumstances to herself. Her book is available through www.iuniverse.com.
Jane is predeceased by her husband Thomas (Robert) Loosmore in 2006, their daughter RoseMary who was lost at sea in her fishboat in 1986.
Jane is also remembered by her two remaining sisters and one brother as well as her surviving children and their spouses, Margery Loosmore-Corrigan & Keith Corrigan of Nelson BC and Thomas (Tom) Loosmore & Susan Turner of Falkland, BC. She leaves behind five grandchildren and 2 step-grandchildren who were very close with her as well as five great-grandchildren and 2 step-great-grandchildren.
She is also remembered by the many students who were in her PE, Art, Health, Math or other classes throughout her working years.
Jane requested no formal ceremony of her death but would accept a Celebration of her Life on her birthday, the Summer Solstice for family and close friends.