Jane Howitt Obituary

Of Westwood, died Dec. 1st. Beloved wife of Andrew J. Howitt. Loving mother of Cynthia J. Sellers and her husband William of East Falmouth, Andrew Wilson Howitt of Cambridge and David W. Howitt of Everett, WA. Sister of Ruth Boggan and her husband William of Randolph and Ann "Susan" Day and her husband George of Stoughton. Also survived by many loving nieces, nephews, grand nieces and grand nephews. Relatives and friends are invited to attend visiting hours in the Holden, Dunn and Lawler Funeral Home, 55 High Rock St. (off Route 109) WESTWOOD on Thursday, Dec. 6th from 4-8pm. Funeral from the funeral home on Friday morning Dec. 7th at 9am followed by a Mass of Christian Burial in St. Margaret Mary's Church at 10am. Interment at New Westwood Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Jane's memory to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 10 Brookline Place West, Floor 6, Brookline, MA 02445 or to the charity of your choice. Jane was the founder and leader of the St. Margaret Mary's Folk Group. Holden-Dunn-Lawler 781-326-0074

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Published by Boston Globe from Dec. 4 to Dec. 5, 2007.

Memories and Condolences
for Jane Howitt

4 Entries

Jeanne Purdy

December 15, 2007

I was one of the members of Jane's Folk Mass group, and never lost touch with her over the years. She helped me through adolescence and supported me through a difficult first marriage and children. Although we only saw each other a few times over the last couple of decades, I will never forget her - her love and support were unconditional and I feel she helped me to carry that quality on into my own life. To Andy, Will, Cynthia, and David my deepest heartfelt sympathy for your loss. Love and Prayers always -
Jeanne Margensey Purdy, Eden, NC

The Girls

christine corliss

December 12, 2007

I would like to express my sincere sympathy to the Howitt family, extended family and friends. Jane will still be there on your Wellfleet visits.

Christine (Hurlburt) Corliss
Carol (Sexton) Hurlburt's daughter

Jane, Andy and Cynthia on her 75th birthday

Cynthia Sellers

December 11, 2007

Text of eulogy from church service:

Good morning everyone. On behalf of my father Andy and my brothers Wilson and David, I’d like to thank you all for coming today to help us
celebrate my mother, Jane’s life.

Everyone who knew her knows how much she loved life in so many ways.
She loved delicious food. Whether prepared at home to enjoy with her sisters and their families, Andy’s family, or going out to eat.
She loved travelling for the history, architecture, food and shopping.
She loved ice skating and taught us to skate using a kitchen chair for
balance on the pond in back of our house.
She loved her annual Memorial Day party because it meant opening the screen porch for the season, where she spent many blissful hours.

She loved throwing themed costume parties with her many friends… some themes included Calypso, Cowboys and Indians, and a Scottish Robbie Burns night . Not surprisingly, Halloween was one of her favorite holidays. Her love of costumes brought many people to the house before Halloween to find a great idea from Jane and a suitable outfit from the large inventory of costumes and accessories available. Dad says when he arrived home on Halloween night he was never sure who or what might greet him or what bizarre attire he would be asked to wear himself.

Once costumed they would drive to friends houses and trick or treat.
One memorable Halloween featured homemade costumes with Wilson as Darth Vader, David as Luke Skywalker and Mom as Princess Lea with her own girlhood braids bobby-pinned to the sides of her head.

Other examples of her creative talents included making ‘stop and go’ mittens, matching outfits for her grand nieces and their dolls, baby sweaters, and many of her own clothes and mine. Our childhood birthdays were always special and she would create a beautiful cake for each of us every year.

Another thing she loved was the beach. Whether it was Duxbury, Wellfleet, Saco ME, or Boca Grande, FL, she loved sitting and watching the surf, swimming in the salt water and walking along the water’s edge peering into the edge of the other world she saw there. Our times in Wellfleet where many family members gather every year were especially cherished.

She dearly loved her two sisters and lived close enough to be with them often. Dinners out with her sisters and their husbands were a regular occurence. They and their children and grandchildren all still gather every Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

As a child she wrote and performed in plays using the neighborhood kids for the cast and the garage door as the curtain. Later she loved the Arts and Humanities in many forms including Literature, Theater, Fine Art, and Opera. All her life she loved learning. Before she was married she went to night school at Harvard and BU. During our childhood she learned to play the guitar from a program on public television and went on to form and lead the Folk Group here at St. Margaret Mary’s for 12 years; sharing her faith and joy with the entire parish.

Most recently she studied creative writing, plays and opera at the Boston College Life-Long Learning Institute which she really loved. She was a very active member of the Book Club at the Westood Public Library where she always had unique insights to share when she led the discussion.
She was also part of a volunteer group at Rosie’s Place, that prepared and served hot meals there.
While claiming not to be a huge sports fan, she did attend BC basketball and football games with my Dad and their friends the Tolands for over 20 seasons.

As beautiful on the outside as she was on the inside she loved clothes and always looked her best; something she learned from her mother. She had a wonderful way of making everyone she was with feel special. On walks with my father, another favorite pastime, faces of the people they were approaching would suddenly light up in a smile because they came within range of her own contagious smile shining out to them in greeting.

She never missed sending a birthday card to a loved one until her illness robbed her of her seemingly limitless strength. Many of you may have been surprised to hear that she had left us so soon because she was so courageous and stoic that she never really appreared to be ill at all in the 27 years she battled cancer. Although she was only strong enough to manage one visit per day, many of her friends were able to come for a short visit during the last few months of her life. She cherished every minute of those visits. As people were leaving they would remark to my father how well she looked.

She loved all things beautiful. Although strong and courageous, she was a gentle woman in every sense of the word, and loved by everyone she knew.

She was a wonderful wife, mother, sister, aunt and friend and all of our lives are so very much richer for having known her.
Thanks again for coming.
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The picture is from her 75th birthday in September.