Jayne Duncan

Jayne Ann Duncan, 64, of Independence, Missouri, passed away peacefully into the arms of her precious Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ on November 17, 2024, after a courageous battle with kidney disease. 

Jayne was born March 5, 1960, to Bill and Nell (Watts) Duncan in Conrad, Montana, where she lived until 1976 when the family moved to Lexington, Missouri. She graduated from Lexington High School in 1978. She attended Southwest Baptist University and University of Montana before earning a Bachelor of Science degree in social psychology from Park University. Along the way she received an additional degree from Johnson County Community College, where she studied to become an American Sign Language interpreter. She went on to earn a Master of Divinity degree from Saint Paul School of Theology. Jayne served the First United Methodist Church, Emporia, Kansas as an education minister and deacon from 1989 to 2010. 

Jayne was a member of the Great Plains United Methodist Conference. After taking leave from work in 2010, Jayne pursued both a passion for creating beautifully stitched works of art and a love of the study of genealogy. She invested the final ten years of her life as a roommate and companion to her mother. 

Jayne was predeceased by her father, Bill Duncan, and her sweetheart Leon Pejsach. She is survived by her mother, Nell Duncan, Independence, Missouri, two sisters: Nancy (and Jeffrey) Brundage, Kansas City, Missouri, and Emily (and David) Evans, Leawood, Kansas, and nephews and nieces, Nate (and Sarah) Brundage, Ben (and Sammie) Brundage, Sav (and Garrett) Seelinger and Laura Evans. 

A memorial service will be held at Red Bridge Baptist Church, 4901 E. Red Bridge Road, Kansas City, MO, on Saturday, November 23 at 1:00 p.m. 

To honor Jayne’s memory, in lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions to The Jayne Duncan Scholarship Fund, First United Methodist Church, 823 Merchant St., Emporia, KS 66801.