Jane Marie Powhida

Jane Marie Rose Loughlin Powhida spent her life helping others. She was a nurse, a pediatric nursing instructor, and a hospice nurse. When she wasn't driving through a snowstorm to ease the pain of the suffering, she was cheering (read that as "shouting") at one of her kids' sporting events. She was there for her children's friends if they needed a ride home after practice or for her nursing students if they sought help. Once her children had children, she became NANAJ9, as the license plate on her convertible Mustang advertised, driving to Toledo, Bolivar, Columbus, or North Carolina to visit her grandchildren.
Jane was someone you wanted around when there was an emergency that needed triaging. She was calm and comforting and knew when to call an ambulance or when to just apply ice and soothing words. She was an everyday saint whose miracles were commonplace and not tallied. Her children didn't appreciate how she always jumped in to help others until later in life, and now we honor her by doing the same: to help without asking.
Jane loved her children's friends and always wanted to know how they were doing. They all talk about how mom treated them as her friends, and still today they remark how they see her piercing blue eyes and light-up-the-room smile in our faces and hear her laugh in our own. Jane loved meeting people, so she would accidentally leave her credit card, driver's license, purse, gloves, glasses, or medication in various places so that she would have the opportunity to go talk with someone new when they announced over the PA system that she had left something behind. It goes without saying that Jane loved to travel, and her passport was heavy with stamps. She loved to travel with friends and to make new friends in places like Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, and Alaska.
On October 25th, 2025, Jane spent her last hours with her family and the extremely caring nurses of Citizens Memorial Hospital in Bolivar, Missouri. Jane was able to say "I love you" to her family and friends and hear the same in return as her daughter, Amy, read text messages and set up her phone for video calls. She left us on her own terms and at peace.
Jane was born in Glens Falls, New York, in 1941, the daughter of Judge Raymond E. A. Loughlin and Melba Knaus Loughlin. Jane was a graduate of St. Mary's School, Glens Falls, and attended Boston College for her Bachelor of Science in Nursing, where she was President of her Registered Nurse class, VP of the Student Senate, and a member of the Honor Society. Jane decided that working a full-time job and raising four kids wasn't enough, so she earned her Master of Nursing Degree from The Ohio State University. Mom loved Ohio State and watched OSU sporting events whenever possible: From Katie Smith playing basketball in the 1990s to the final football game she watched on October 4th, when she (loudly) cheered on Ohio State Football over Wisconsin, 42 to 3.
Jane was preceded in death by her father, her mother, her sisters, Barbara Loughlin Martin and Betty Ann Loughlin Lortie, her son, Stephen J. Powhida, and her husband, Gregory Thomas Powhida. Jane is survived by her brother James Loughlin, daughter-in-law Kelly Powhida, daughter Amy Powhida (Joe) Follis, son Doug (Sally) Powhida, and daughter Karen Powhida (Tom) Booker, as well as her nine grandchildren: Kaleb Follis, Kolby (Michelle) Follis, Sydney (Matt) Fox, Lexi Powhida, Zach Powhida, Greg Powhida, Katie Booker, Annie Powhida, and Elizabeth Booker, great-granddaughter Lydia Follis, and many, many, many nieces, nephews, and cousins.
A service for Jane will be held in Glens Falls, NY, on March 21st, 2026. Donations can be made to the Citizens Memorial Health Care Foundation, 1500 N. Oakland Ave., Bolivar, MO 65613; email - development@citizensmemorial.com.