Jane Bolinger Scott

Jane Bolinger Scott passed peacefully from this earth December 13, 2025 surrounded by family. Born Nancy Jane Bolinger in Detroit, Michigan on April 12, 1932, Jane was the youngest of the six children of Dana and Estelle Bolinger. The family moved to the family home in Caryville, TN when she was just a few months old due to The Depression.
She was the valedictorian of her high school class at Jacksboro High School at the age of 16 and attended the University of Tennessee. While working as a student secretary in Esterbrook Hall, Jane met engineering student and future husband Jim Scott when he answered her distress call after she found a mouse trapped in her waste-paper basket.
Married on August 8, 1953 at Central Baptist Church in Knoxville, Jane worked to put her husband through graduate school until the birth of her children Marshall and Dana. Once her children were both in school, Jane was a substitute teacher and led the effort to start a library at West Haven Elem.
After writing an excellent PR piece about her daughter's school play at West Hills Elem., Jane was hired by The Westside Story weekly newspaper in Knoxville. She eventually became an editor. For many years she wrote a humorous column called "Domesticat", a la Erma Bombeck, about the life of a wife and mother.
For many years, Jane was an active member of Church of the Ascension and participated in the theological training program Education for Ministry (EFM). She and her husband were mentors with Marriage Encounter and helped arrange diocesan conventions for the Episcopal Church in East Tennessee.
When Jim was offered a job by the United States Department of Energy in Japan, Jane couldn't pack quickly enough. They lived in Tokyo for seven years, making many lifelong relationships, and hosting American friends and family. In the evenings, Jane taught English to Japanese businessmen and women. While there, she added British Hong Kong, Korea, China, and Australia to her world travels, having already been to many European countries.
Through the years she loved antiquing, UT sports, and rescuing wildflowers from strip mines in the Cumberland Mountains. But Jane's favorite hobby was reading. She once said that she was "finally getting control of her reading habit" by cutting back to two books a day. Until she developed vascular dementia in her late 80s, Jane read mysteries, science fiction, fantasy, poetry, theology and just about anything else she could get her hands on. She taught herself to read at the age of three.
Special thanks to Jane's long-time caregivers Jessie Davidson, Edye Law, and Nicole Abshire, and to her church family at Church of the Resurrection for their loving support.
Jane was preceded in death by her husband Dr. James Louis Scott, father Hugh Dana Bolinger, mother Estella (Estelle) Newport Bolinger, brothers Hugh Dana (HD) Bolinger, Jr, Maurice Bolinger, William (Bill) Bolinger, sisters Elizabeth (Betty) Bolinger and Olive Bolinger Smithers Bible, and grand-daughter Sarah Spears. She is survived by her son Marshall Stuart Scott (Karen Woods) of Pleasant Hill, TN, daughter Dr. Dana Katherine Scott Spears (Phillip) of Loudon, TN, grandchildren Aaron Marshall Scott of Oakland, CA, James Patrick Scott (Marisa Lopez-Scott) of Castro Valley, CA, Anna Katherine Spears (Matthew Nemet) of New York City, Mary Margaret (Maggie) Spears Walter (Zachary) of Augusta, GA, and Benjamin Comstock Matteson Spears (Kendall) of Nashville, TN, and great-grandchildren Oliver (Ollie) Oso Lopez-Scott, Finneas Rio (Finn) Lopez-Scott, Patrick Ward Walter, Lily Jane Walter, Fiona Sarah Walter, Benjamin Comstock Matteson Spears, Jr., and Everett Anne Spears.
Visitation will be held on January 12 at Episcopal Church of the Resurrection, Loudon, TN at 10:00 a.m. in the fellowship hall followed by a celebration of life at 11:00 a.m. in the sanctuary. The graveside service will be that afternoon at 2:00 p.m. at Woodlawn Cemetery, LaFollette, TN.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Episcopal Church Women (ECW) of the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection, Loudon, TN or the University of Tennessee General Scholarship Fund.