Jane Ellen Straw

Jane Ellen Straw

MARION: Jane Ellen Straw, age 83, of Marion, Ohio, passed peacefully away early on Wednesday morning, July 11, 2012. She lived in Marion most of her life happily.

On November 9, 1928, Jane was born in Trumbull County, Warren, Ohio, to Archie Jacoby Bishop and Floss a Mildred (Robinson) Bishop.

Jane had two brothers, Isaac Wesley and Owen Archie Bishop; and a stepbrother, Dick Ross Granlee. Their father Archie married Esther Liza McCumber Granlee on April 11, 1942, after Flossie passed away on March 18, 1941.

As an offspring of a high school teacher of vocational agriculture, Jane was raised in Monroeville in Huron County, Mount Gilead in Morrow County, Radnor in Delaware County, and finally Morral in Marion County, where she graduated from Morral High School in the upper third of the six-member Class of 1946.

On October 17, 1946, Jane married Walter Harold Straw in Newport, Kentucky. Walt worked as a welder at Marion Power Shovel for 43 years, most of that time alongside his older brother, John Daniel Straw. Jane and Walt lived first in Marion, then in Prospect, then in Marion again, eventually sharing nearly 55 years together, mostly in their beloved home on the corner of Grand and Mount Vernon Avenues, until Walt's death on April 9, 2001.

Jane worked for several businesses in Marion County, including such restaurants as Dale's in Prospect and the Henney & Cooper malt shop on West Center Street (where she met Walt), the B.F. Goodrich Corporation factory near Green Camp, Bell Radio Supply on North Main Street, and the General Telephone Company. At General Telephone, she began as a long distance switchboard operator downtown and ended up behind a desk in their modernistic white building across from the Harding Memorial.

For many years, Jane was a very creative member and active leader in a number of civic organizations, including the Girl Scouts, the Order of the Eastern Star, and the Ohio Child Conservation League. She also was a vital presence in the Grace Circle and American Baptist Women's Ministries of the Trinity Baptist Church in Marion, as well as a leader and participant in local Creator's Guild activities. She and Walt were longtime members of Trinity Baptist Church and the Marion County Foster Parents Association, taking many youths, mostly infants, into their home.

Jane will be dearly missed by her daughter, Caroline Lee Coughenour, and her husband, William (Gene) Eugene Coughenour, near Salisbury, Pennsylvania; and by her son, Richard Stuart Straw, and his wife, Isobel Ojalvo, of Cary, North Carolina; She will also be deeply missed by her five grandchildren, William Eugene Coughenor, Jr., of Wilmington, Delaware, and his wife Sandee and their two children, Garritt Joseph and Tessa Jane; Brian Lee Coughenor of Ashburn, Virginia, and his wife Suzanne and their daughter, Alayna Grace; Jessica Caitlin Straw of New York City, New York; Marissa Rachel Straw of Cary, North Carolina; and Samuel Nathan Straw of Cary, North Carolina. Aunt Jane will also be remembered with great affection by her numerous nieces and nephews.

Including her husband Walt; and her parents, Archie and Flossa and Esther; Jane was preceded in death by her three loving brothers, Wes, Owen, and Dick.

Her family will greet friends from 5PM to 8PM on Friday, July 13, 2012, at the Denzer-Farison-Hottinger and Snyder Funeral Home, 360 East Center Street, Marion, Ohio 43302. Services honoring her life will also be held there at 10AM, with Dr. Richard A. Farmer officiating. Burial will follow in Marion Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made in Jane's name to your favorite congregation or to a local chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Jane's family thanks everyone at Marion Pointe (formerly the Maplewood Nursing Center) in Marion for their exceptional care of her during her more than 10 years as a resident there, to Acclaim Hospice for their tender care of Jane during the past few months, and most especially to all of the wonderful relatives and friends of Jane who remember her with love.

The Denzer-Farison-Hottinger & Snyder Funeral Home is honored to be serving Jane's family, and your private condolences may be expressed to them by visiting www.snyderfuneralhomes.com.