Jane Elisabeth Roeder Anderson

JANE ELISABETH ROEDER ANDERSON, 88, passed away on Sunday, September 14 in St. Agnes Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland after a short illness. She was born on September 17, 1936, in Catonsville, Maryland to James Walter Roeder and Elisabeth Hook Roeder, was the beloved wife of Jack Horton Anderson, the mother of Jacki Anderson Stranathan (Malcolm) of Westminster, Maryland, James Horton Anderson (Otgo) of Bethesda, Maryland, and Jennifer Anderson Myers (Larry) of Hanover, Pennsylvania. She was the sister of Anne Kaufman and Gail Ellis (Steve), and had many cousins, nieces, and nephews. She is also survived by her grandchildren, Brittany Rachin (Danny), Elisabeth Stranathan, Wesley Stranathan, Chingun Anderson, Amara Anderson, Jack Zana Anderson, Sara McCain, Jane Myers, and her great grandchildren, Harrison, Everett, Kevin, Madeline, and John.

Jane graduated from Catonsville High School in the Class of 1954, and then Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College) in 1958 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Later she went on to graduate school and earned a Master of Modern Studies degree from Loyola College of Baltimore in 1977. All through her life Jane loved reading and learning about the world, creative arts, and spirituality. She was a true life-long learner. She was a media center teacher in Harper's Choice Middle School until her retirement in 1998.

Jane grew up in Catonsville, surrounded by close family living nearby. At Western Maryland College she and Jack Horton Anderson met, fell in love, and were married on August 30, 1958, shortly after their graduation. She and Jack shared many interests and took several courses together, including dramatic arts, where they studied and performed under Esther Smith. They recently celebrated sixty-seven years of a happy marriage.

After their wedding they lived in Virginia and Missouri while Jack served as an officer in the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, and then at UNC in Chapel Hill, North Carolina where Jack earned a Master's degree in City and Regional Planning, and in Fayetteville where Jack was Assistant Planning Director. In 1964 they moved back to Maryland and in 1968 settled in Columbia, the new city that they heard about at a talk by James Rouse in North Carolina. They were excited to be part of a diverse, environmentally planned community that embraced mixed uses and encouraged experimentation in education and church life. As members of the 'Pioneers of Columbia,' Jane and Jack lived for nearly fifty years, first in Faulkner Ridge and later at The Cove Condominiums.

During their Columbia years, Jane, in addition to working at Harper's Choice Middle School and attending Loyola College, joined the Longfellow Garden Club and remained an active member for over fifty years until her death. She loved flowers. Her father was a florist and at one time had a small business at their Catonsville home called Valley Gardens. She participated in a cooperative nursery school. She also was an early member of the Howard County Genealogical Society, the Cache Club (a women's investment club like the "Beardstown Ladies"), a Girl Scout cookie mom, "Les Girls" (a friendship group of like-minded ladies who socialized together), and much more.

In 1971 Jane and Jack joined the newly forming Saint John United Methodist-Presbyterian Church USA in the Wilde Lake Interfaith Center in Columbia -- a new church in a new town in new form of cooperative interfaith environment where their children could grow and learn their values. She continued her membership with SJU for as long as she lived. She was a long-time member of the congregational care committee, house church, Sunday School, SJU's Carol Beggs Library (which was later merged into the Interfaith Library), church family camping, small group gatherings, mission committee, mission projects, confirmand mentoring, and for years was part of the Interfaith Meditation Group that met on Wednesday evenings. Meditation was an important part of Jane's life. She often went on day and overnight retreats at the Bon Secours spiritual center.

When the Anderson kids began to travel and live internationally a whole new world opened for Jane and Jack. They took trips to see and experience international life and cultures with their kids. They joined many fascinating and rewarding experiences with Elderhostel, Road Scholar, and Grand Circle both locally and abroad. They joined trips to the Holy Land, experienced The Oberammergau Passion Play, and traveled the Journeys of Saint Paul, each trip led by dear friends. They went on pilgrimages to the Isle of Iona, Scotland, and Holy Island England with their family.

After retirement, Jane and Jack discovered Chautauqua. After a memorable visit to the Chautauqua Institution in New York State with friends, they discovered the Pennsylvania Chautauqua in Mount Gretna, Pennsylvania. They immediately fell for the charm and experience of summers filled with history, music, theater, art, lectures, religion, and recreation. In 1997 they bought a cottage in the Chautauqua and spent summers there for 27 years. They named it Dove Cottage, a place of peace and cultural opportunities for their family and friends. It was their "Shangri La." They served together on the summer programs committee and hosted numerous events in the venerable Hall of Philosophy and were members and docents of the Mount Gretna Area Historical Society. They were part of a Progressive Christianity group that met regularly for years to study and discuss their faith.

Jane had a lifelong interest in art. For many years, she took part in the Art Resources class at Howard Community College which travelled to museums in the Baltimore-Washington area for docent- or staff- led walks through major exhibitions. She supported the Mt. Gretna School of Art and enjoyed attending lectures by MGSoA faculty and others. She volunteered at the annual Mt. Gretna Outdoor Art show. She and Jack have a small collection of original and print art displayed in their home. She particularly loved Impressionism and went with Jack and dear friends on an Elderhostel trip down the Seine River where the Impressionist artists lived and painted.

Jane and Jack's Chautauqua world broadened when they joined the Chautauqua Network, an association of historic Chautauquas across the United States. The Network holds annual meetings at one of roughly 18 sites, where members gather to exchange ideas, share fellowship, and celebrate traditions. Over the years, Jane and Jack attended gatherings from Ocean Park, Maine, to DeFuniak Springs, Florida, and Plains, Georgia-where they had the opportunity to meet and participate in events with President Jimmy Carter and Rosalyn Carter. The Carters are among Jane's heroes and she admires their commitment to service, peace and justice. At Jane's instigation, Jane and Jack pulled their kids from school to attend Jimmy Carter's Inauguration and walk up Pennsylvania Avenue. Jane regularly donated to the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

Jane had a lifelong interest in deafness and sign language. With a maternal aunt and uncle who were deaf, she began learning finger spelling and signing at an early age. For many years, she volunteered with an after-school program at the Columbia School for the Deaf. She volunteered at a national camp held at West River Methodist Church Camp for people who were both deaf and blind. In Charlestown she was about to sign up for her third "semester" of a series of ASL classes.

Jane and Jack knew for years that they wanted to spend their later years in the Charlestown Retirement Community in Catonsville. In 2014 they sold their condo in Columbia and moved into an apartment home in Charlestown. In 2023 they sold Dove Cottage and settled year-round in Charlestown. During Jane's nearly twelve years of Charlestown living she continued her lifelong learning through ELLIC classes (Elder Lifelong Learning in Charlestown), films, reading and book club (their apartment is full of books), garden club, reading poetry over channel 972 CTN (Charlestown Television Network), refreshing her American Sign Language through ASL classes, and sharing with many new and old friends. Although she had slowed down, she continued to walk the halls of Charlestown and performed chair conditioning exercises twice a week led by a dear friend.

Jane and Jack loved mysteries, particularly English mysteries by Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle. Both were members of the White Rose Society, a Sherlock Holmes literary group based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. She always attended Jack's meetings of the Six Napoleons of Baltimore, another Sherlock Holmes literary group. Jack read aloud to her the complete biography of Arthur Conan Doyle and many stories in the Holmes canon. She enjoyed reading "Miss Reed" books about village life in England, and stories by Jane Austin, Charlotte Bronte, and Daphne du Maurier.

Jane was the quintessential "Tea Lady." She loved taking tea. Perhaps it stemmed from her love of Britain and its history, landscapes, customs, and practices. She has had afternoon tea, high tea, and just tea. She had afternoon tea in Brown's Hotel, London; Shangri La Hotel, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Empress Hotel, Vancouver, British Columbia; Grand Hotel, Mackinaw Island, Michigan; and in the John Erickson Conference Center in Charlestown. And she really enjoyed the intimate teas she often shared with dear friends in tea rooms nearby, and in the apartments of her and her dear friends,

"Faith, Family, and Friends" was Jane's mantra. She was always with family and friends via technology, notes, gifts, family gatherings, and birthday parties. She particularly loved that her two sisters, Anne and Gail (Steve), also lived in Charlestown. Sharing meals and remembrances with them gave her great joy. Every morning, she sat in her chair by her harbor view window, sunlight streaming in, sipping coffee, doing her devotions.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Jane's memory to one of the following organizations, which she strongly supported and served as a volunteer in her later years:

The Least of These Ministries – a mission of food and service to poor people in the Bateys of The Dominican Republic. Jane and Jack's daughter Jacki is devoting a year of her life to serving as a missionary on-site at that mission. Donate to The Least of These Ministries, P.O. Box 2824, Westminster, MD 21158-7824. (leastofthesemin.org)

Turnaround Tuesday – a jobs movement in Baltimore serving persons recovering from prison, addiction, or other of life's challenges using a whole-person approach – mind, body, and spirit -- through workshops, training, one-on-one mentoring and participant follow-up. Their goal: train participants to act as leaders in their communities and workplaces and secure stable careers. Jane and Jack participate in trainings and workshops. Donate to: Turnaround Tuesday Inc., 2519 N. Charles St, Suite 101, Baltimore, MD 21218. (turnaroundtuesday.org)

Some of Jane's favorite Bible verses:

"Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these

brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."

-Matthew 25:40

"And what does the Lord require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

---Micah 6:8

"May God the source of Hope fill you with all joy and peace."

---Romans 15:13

"This is the day the Lord has made;

Let us rejoice and be glad in it."

---Psalm 118:24

"I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills

From whence cometh my help . . ."

---Psalm 121

A Celebration of Life Memorial service will be held on Sunday, October 5, 2025, at 4:00 P.M. at St John's United Methodist/Presbyterian USA Church at the Wilde Lake Interfaith Center, 10431 Twin Rivers Road, Columbia, MD 21044. A time of visiting with family and friends will be held onsite following the service.