Jane Oliver (Watkins) Carey, a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and friend, passed away peacefully surrounded by the love of her family on Friday, October 9, 2026. She was born July 29, 1940, to Oliver and Margaret (Snapp) Watkins in Cedar Grove, Maryland, where she was raised, and graduated from Damascus High School.

Jane met the love of her life, Jack Buckley Carey, at church when she was 12 and Jack was 14. They began dating when Jane turned 16 and never dated anyone else. They married in December 1958 and spent the next decades building a life together filled with family, faith, friendship, and adventure. Jane and Jack's love for one another was evident to everyone who knew them. They did nearly everything together—from traveling and camping to golf, fishing, and simply sharing everyday life. Even in their 80s, they held hands and helped one another with everything. Their enduring love was such that those who saw them together might have thought they were newlyweds.

Jack's career took them from Maryland to Raleigh, North Carolina, Florence, South Carolina, and Lynchburg, Virginia. As they approached retirement, they found their paradise on earth at Traveler's Rest in Dade City, Florida, where they discovered a wonderful community of friends. Jane and Jack embraced life there, spending their days golfing, playing bingo, volunteering, and enjoying the many friendships they made.

Jane's greatest work was raising her two daughters, Jan and Jackie. She was a loving mother who taught her daughters not only how to sew and cook, but also how to work with their hands and care for those around them. She took them to her father's dairy farm, where they learned to plant and tend a garden and milk cows. The family grew and preserved much of its own food, and Jane made clothes for her daughters. What could have felt like work became fun because Jane approached everything she did with joy.

Jane and Jack loved to travel. Together they spent the night in every state, and some of their daughters' favorite childhood memories were family camping and fishing trips to places such as Rocks Pond Campground in Santee, South Carolina, and Janes Island State Park in Crisfield, Maryland. In their later years, they enjoyed camping and spending time with their grandchildren. They carried their love of adventure throughout their marriage, always finding joy in the places they went and the people they visited along the way.

That same spirit followed Jane throughout her life. She was incredibly smart, yet remarkably humble and loving. She was not one to seek the spotlight, but after spending a little time with her, people felt as though they had become her friend. Whether she was creating a beautiful quilt, sorting mail at the TR post office, tending her garden, or serving others, Jane poured her heart into what she did and did it with joy and excellence. She rarely complained and never needed much fuss or drama. Instead, she quietly and faithfully cared for the people around her.

Jane's faith was also an important part of her life. She served her church as a Sunday school teacher, choir member, and organist as a young mother, and she lived out her faith in the way she loved and served others. In later years, she found comfort and fellowship in a women's Bible study at The Manor, which became a source of encouragement, friendship, and meaningful conversations.

Above all, Jane loved her family and friends deeply. She would want them to remember not what she accomplished or accumulated, but simply how much she loved them. That love was expressed in a lifetime of quiet acts of service, generosity, laughter, faithfulness, and care.

Jane is survived by her brother, Ron Watkins and his family; brother-in-law John Carey (Sherry), sisters-in-law Sandy Watkins and Annette Pollard and their families; her daughters, Jan Kirven (Bill) and Jackie Hall (Rob); her grandchildren, Blake Kirven (Lauren), Molly Norton (William), Grace Horton (Chris), Sarah Alvarez (Aidan), Daniel Parrish, Logan Hall (fiancée Bri Abigando), Taylor Reynolds (Davis), Jordan Butts (Cody), Loxley Mangrum (Bailey), and Daniel Pope (Kaitlyn); and 15 great-grandchildren, Hampton, Olive, Lydia, Caroline, Jackson, Nathaniel, Thomas, Elliot, Granger, August, Kaladin, Krimsyn, Piper, Emersyn, and Henry. She was preceded in death by her parents, her beloved husband, Jack Carey, and her brother, Leroy Watkins.