Jane Watts

Jane Adams Watts passed away peacefully at home on March 5, 2025, Ash Wednesday, in Chico, California, after a short illness. She was surrounded by caring support staff and family, and with her beloved cat, "Twenty," by her side. Born on June 18, 1943, she is genuinely remembered by those whose lives she touched, as well as the children and grandchildren she helped guide into and through this world. While her passing brings sorrow, comfort can be found in knowing her final days were filled with love and support.

Mary Jane Adams was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, to William Patrick Adams and Margaret Mary Daly. Her father, a lieutenant in the Navy, was stationed in California, where he and Margaret married at Old Saint Mary's Church in Oakland. After their honeymoon in Yosemite Valley, William served as captain of the USS Tangier during the World War II bombings at Pearl Harbor. After the ship was patched and repaired, Captain Adams and his Sailors went on to serve in many major battles in the Pacific. After the war, Jane and Margaret settled in Arlington, Virginia, where Captain Adams worked as a maritime engineer for the Department of The Defense for many years.

Jane spent most of her childhood in Arlington, excelling academically at Washington-Lee High School (now Washington-Liberty), where she was active in Alpha Chi Omega, Psychology Club, Debate Club, Law Club, Student Journalism, and Angel Flight, where she hosted Air Force functions, modeled WAF uniforms, and partnered as a sister organization to the Arnold Air Society. She attended the inauguration and inaugural ball of President John F. Kennedy. She later pursued an English degree at Michigan State University, immersing herself in writing, poetry, and editing.

Jane had a thirst for travel while in college. One such adventure brought her to the apex of Machu Picchu, Peru, where her appendix ruptured, prompting an evacuation down the mountain by horseback and an emergency surgery. She often credited that incident with various ongoing health issues she suffered through later in life, but as always, she kept going, kept learning, kept creating.

After earning a master's degree at MSU, Jane moved to Bakersfield, California, where she met Thomas Watts. Thomas had also gone to college in Michigan where he studied at Albion College, just a short drive to East Lansing and Michigan State, although their paths had yet to cross at that time. He obtained his PhD in Political Science at the Indiana University, served as chair on local political committees, briefly ran for Governor of Indiana, and then taught at the The University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. His recruitment to become the founding dean of Behavioral Science at California State College, Bakersfield became the link where Jane and Tom frequented some of the same faculty events and parties that initiated their courtship. They married on December 29, 1972, in Los Angeles and became prominent figures in Bakersfield's academic community. Their children James (Jamie) and Michael (Keever) were raised in the rural bucolic environs of East Bakersfield, as the city suburbs grew westward. These experiences at the two colleges, Our Lady of Perpetual Help School, Garces Memorial High School, Harding Elementary, Compton Junior High, and Foothill High Schools, as well as St. Joseph Catholic Church, were formative experiences for the family, sprinkled with frequent weekend trips to Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, and lots of camping excursions.

Tom went on to forge collaborative research partnerships with colleagues in China and Poland, as well as contributing his own research and teaching surrounding the electoral process and the aggrandizement of the presidency. Jane taught English at Bakersfield College for over 20 years and founded Poet & Printer Press, publishing works by California writers and artists. Some of her publications included *The Tehachapi Review*, *Valley Light*, *Signature*, "Lawrence Weill's Bakersfield*, *19th & Chester"*, *From Wild Rootage with poet and historian Ardis Manley Walker,* and *A Short Story of Man,* which was a one of a kind spoken word performance piece, set to a creative perspective on the story of human history, performed on stage with live avant-garde jazz music, ballet, smoke, mesmerizing lights and mirrors. It was quite the interesting performance for 1980s Bakersfield.

There was always a surprise to be found in her old belongings-- Charles Bukowski sent her a poem which she helped him edit; a short audiocassette interview with John and Yoko, and who knows what other treasures she haphazardly stored away somewhere only rarely to be found by chance. These Chance encounters with renowned authors and directors, and other fascinating encounters are often too difficult to prove to put into print. For to choose these last accomplishments of hers is to highlight that for all of the love she had for her family and for all she appreciated, encountered and crossed paths with, her singular journey in life was to bring the creative world she held within her out to blend, guide, and help transfigure the infinite creativity that always surrounds us. She brought a whimsical "off the beaten track" spirit to the things she approached, the way she communicated, and the way she spoke her own language which at times took work to decipher through until you get to that "ah-ah" moment and there was deliberate purpose to her words. In her last days, she retreated into a dreamy peace, talking it all in, not so much that the words were starting to fail her but more that she no longer needed them to take them where she was going.

Jane is survived by her Son James Patrick (Julie O'Donnell), grandsons Declan James, Andrew Thomas, and Quinn Desmond; Son Michael McKeever (Christina O'Neil), McKeever Kieran, Brennan Thomas, and Nolan Prosser.

She was predeceased by her husband Thomas McKeever Watts (1991), mother Margaret Mary Adams (1977), father William Patrick Adams (1999) her dear "Auntie Mame," Mary Rose Daly (2006) , Aunt Catherine Kitty O'Keefe, Uncles James and Joseph Adams, and numerous other loved and cherished extended Daly and Adams Pennsylvania families.

Jane's creativity and gentle spirit left a lasting impression on her families, friends, former students, and anyone who had the gift of knowing her in some capacity. May her memory bring comfort to those who knew her.

Arrangements under the direction of Newton-Bracewell Funeral Home, Chico, CA (530) 342-9003. There will not be a public ceremony but the family would love to hear any memories you may have. At a later date, Jane will be interned near her husband in Morenci, Michigan at the Oak Grove Cemetery. Any donations, if desired, may be directed to St. John The Baptist Catholic Church in Chico, CA.