Jane Armstrong

1958 - 2025

Jane Ellen Armstrong, of Domfront en Poiraie in northern France, and previously a long-term resident of Flagstaff, passed away peacefully in le Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Caen Normandie, in Caen, France on October 5, 2025. A celebration of her life was held at Pompes Funèbres Crematorium in Mayenne, France, and she was laid to rest in the Cimetière de La Croix des Landes in Domfront en Poiraie on October 10, 2025.
Born in Beckley, West Virginia, on December 3, 1958, Jane grew up in Lake Worth, Florida. Despite humble beginnings, Jane earned a BA in International Relations from Florida State University, followed by a Masters in English, and ultimately a Ph.D. in Creative Writing at the University of Southern Mississippi, after which she joined the faculty at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Jane's career as both a teacher of writing and as a writer was particularly distinguished. In 2018 she won a National Endowment for the Arts literary fellowship for creative nonfiction, and her work was supported by the Arizona Commission on the Arts. She was published extensively, including such publications as The Mississippi Review, New World Writing, River Teeth, Newsweek, Brevity, Airplane Reading, Atticus Review, National Public Radio's "All Things Considered," and The North American Review. Her essay, "Aphasia" was chosen for the 2018 Torch Prize in Creative Nonfiction. As a professor of creative writing, she was known to be a thorough and insightful reader and critic, but also fair and incredibly supportive because she believed everyone deserved to become a better writer.
In 2018, Jane retired from teaching and she and her husband moved to a house along the La Varenne river in a small medieval city in Normandy, France, where Jane continued to write, completing her novel, "Our Stories in the Dark." She was working on a nonfiction book correlating color and color theory to the vagaries of human existence shortly before her passing.
Those who knew Jane well will remember her for her sharp wit and wicked sense of humor, her dedication to her work, her passion and courage for social justice and women's reproductive freedom, her love and kindness to animals, and her creative style. Her seven years in France brought her much love, peace, and fulfillment, and the little town of Domfront became her treasured home, from which she delighted in taking regular trips to Paris as well as travels further afield to Berlin, Norway, Italy, and the United Kingdom. She found her voice singing soprano in local choral groups and even in a French gospel choir. And she occasionally enjoyed riding with her husband Don, an avid motorcyclist. She believed in saying "yes" to life at every opportunity.
Jane is survived by her loving husband, Don Sherwood Olson, of Domfront en Poiraie in Normandy, France, and her sister Mary Lee Delucia (Armstrong) and by her brother-in-law Don Delucia, both of Lake Worth, Florida. A Celebration of Life will be held in Flagstaff, AZ at the Beaver Street Theater, 11 W. Beaver, on December 7, 2025 between 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. Remembrances may be written on the website at https://www.espace-hommage.fr/mon-espace/016123dc.