Carey Lane

Carey Elizabeth Lane

WEST BRATTLEBORO Carey Elizabeth Shands Lane of Brattleboro died unexpectedly on April 17, 2013, a week after her 82nd birthday and a day before her husband Richard Lane's birthday who passed ten years ago. Shortly after her passing, she was surrounded by her four children.Carey was born in Long Beach, Calif., to Captain Courtney and Elizabeth Jones Shands. As a Navy Junior growing up often in war time, her family moved to numerous coastal postings around the world: Manila and Cavite, Philippines; Shanghai, and Tsingtao, China; Pensacola, Fla., Norfolk, Va., and Newport, R.I. She and her mother and brother would return to her grandfather's home in Kirkwood, Mo., for month-long stays during her father's military absences.

She graduated from Coronado High School in California. She attended MacMurray College in Illinois, was a member of the college swim team and was valedictorian of her graduating class in 1953.

The summer before her senior year, she married Richard King Lane from Jacksonville, Ill., in the chapel of the Washington Cathedral. At that time, Admiral Shands and Elizabeth were stationed in Washington, D.C. Carey and Richard lived in Washington as newlyweds while attending Gallaudet College and studying Deaf Education. In 1954, Carey received her Master's of Education.

As a mother and wife, Carey moved her family as her husband was hired for progressively higher administrative positions in the state deaf school system. From 1955 to 1961, they lived in a little house one block from the ocean in St. Augustine, Fla. In 1962, Richard became the Principal at the American School for the Deaf in West Hartford, Conn., where they lived in a staff house for three years. They moved to Brattleboro in 1965, onto the campus of the Austine School for the Deaf. Richard was Headmaster and Carey taught preschool. In retirement, they moved to West Brattleboro.

Carey loved and identified the song birds so active in her yard, putting up birdhouses and feeding them throughout the seasons. She relaxed in her garden and loved being barefoot, regardless of the weather. There were always vases of freshly cut flowers from her garden in different rooms in her house. She was pleased whenever wildlife visited her yard. She appreciated seeing deer, hawks, turkeys, even black bears, and once a moose. Carey loved living in Vermont and raising her children here.

She was a wonderful cook and baker and she knit many beautiful sweaters for her family and sewed clothes and quilts. Carey loved to read and had ongoing exchanges of books with friends. Carey was also a faithful letter writer, writing weekly letters to her brother and children over these years.

Carey cherished her time outdoors. She loved walking along the beach beside the ocean. Many summers were spent swimming at Spofford Lake and vacationing in Wellsfleet, Cape Cod. All her life, Carey traveled to Kirkwood, Mo., to visit her mother, brother and his family, and relatives living in that area.

Carey was a devout and active member of St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Brattleboro. She was honored to serve as the head of the Altar Guilders. She attended to all of her duties with great care and responsibility. She was also a member of the transportation committee and of the intercessory prayer group. Carey was a volunteer at the Brattleboro Memorial Hospital.

Carey was predeceased by her husband of 50 years, Richard King Lane.

She is survived by her daughter, Jenny, and her husband, Randy Walker, and their three children, Carey, Carter and Stuart of Royalton; her son, Michael and his two sons, Noah and Asa of Kittery Point, Maine; her daughter, Elizabeth, and her husband, Matthew Nowell, and their two children, Katlyn and Croix of York, Maine; and her son, Timothy and his wife, Jodi, and their two children, Elizabeth and Mitchell of Richmond. She is also survived by a host of Kirkwood, Mo., relatives, including her brother, Courtney Shands, Jr. and his wife, Bliss; her nephews, Courtney III and Berkley; her niece, Elizabeth, and seven grandnieces and two grand nephews.

Carey very much enjoyed living in Brattleboro. She loved the Green Mountains and the country setting. She happily anticipated her yearly trips to Missouri and so much looked forward to seeing all of her Kirkwood relatives. She loved her husband, her children, all her grandchildren, and her many friends over the years. Her home was a peaceful and welcoming place to visit. Her steady, loving and patient presence in our lives will be missed.

FUNERAL NOTICE: Please send condolences to P.O. Box 2308. West Brattleboro, VT 05303 and donations to Audubon, Vermont, 225 Sherman Hollow Road. Huntington, VT 05462. Carey's service will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 27, at St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Brattleboro.