Jane Hardcastle Jones

Jane Hardcastle Jones, 86, of Blacksburg, Va., died on Monday, October 26, 2009, following a long illness. She was born in Suffolk, Va., to the Rev. Howard S. Hardcastle and Mary Miller Hardcastle. Jane earned a bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering from VPI in 1944 and then worked as an engineer for Curtiss-Wright in Buffalo, N.Y., and for the Purdue Engineering Experiment Station in Lafayette, Ind. She was a master of several arts and crafts: pen and pencil sketching, needlework, and quilting. As a weaver she won several awards and completely restored two nineteenth century floor looms to working order.
She enjoyed a wide variety of music and played recorder, mountain dulcimer, banjo, and harmonica.
Jane was a devoted and dependable volunteer worker. For several years she was a Head Start volunteer driver. For even more years she served as a Red Cross volunteer, first at Montgomery Regional Hospital and later at the Red Cross Blood Donor Center. She was much in demand for weaving demonstrations in many schools and also presented programs of dulcimer music at several schools. As a volunteer she translated German documents for the Museum of American Frontier Culture in Staunton.
She participated in athletic activity all her life: field hockey and softball as a young woman and later tennis, skiing, and running.
The Virginia Mountain Crafts Guild benefited from her service as an officer and Board of Directors member. She also served on the Board of Directors of the Museum of American Frontier Culture in Staunton.
Friends and relatives remember her as a loving and selfless person who always took a genuine interest in others. She had loyal friendships that spanned many years, and she thoroughly enjoyed the many reunions and other family gatherings throughout her life. She was known as a steadying influence on those around her, partly because of her reserved and unflappable nature.
She is survived by her husband of 64 years, JB Jones; her children, Ellen Jones-Walker, of Floyd County and Warren Jones, of Ashburn; son-in-law, Clifford Walker; and grandchildren, Kelly Jones and Reilly Jones. She also leaves a brother, Howard S. Hardcastle Jr., of Cocoa Beach, Fla.; several nieces and nephews; and four first cousins.
The family wishes to express its deep gratitude to the staffs of Kroontje Health Care Center and Good Samaritan Hospice for the excellent care they provided.
A memorial service conducted by Rev. Susan Verbrugge, will be held 10 a.m. on Saturday, November 14, 2009, at McCoy Funeral Home, 150 Country Club Drive, Blacksburg, Va.
The family suggests that in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made to a charity of one's choice.