Margaret "Jane" (Martin) Lovelady was born in Thayer MO in 1925 and was the only child of Harry and Olive (Haislett) Martin. She passed away in Springfield MO on April 21 following a stroke. She would have been 94 years young in December.

Up until her death, Jane was living in her own home independently. She was very proud of the fact that she was still able to cook, do laundry and pay her own bills.

After graduating from Thayer High in 1943, she met Jay Lovelady. They were married in 1945 and with Jay's employment with Frisco Railroad, moved to 9 different cities in 4 different states over the next 14 years.

When she was in her early 40's, she made the decision to go to school and get her license to sell insurance. She started her career with Nixon, Shipp and Roderick, and later worked at Ollis and Company until her retirement in 1994.

Knowing she could not just "do nothing" after retirement, she decided to volunteer for Meals on Wheels, and remained a volunteer for 20 years.

She loved all types of music and sang along most of the time. Her favorite movie was "Sound of Music". We have no idea how many times she watched it. She basically knew it by heart.

She was an avid reader. She always had something she was reading and at times might be reading 2 or 3 books at the same time!

She was preceded in death by her son, Martin and her daughter Mary.

She is survived by her daughter Susan Lovelady and husband Tom Barr, and her daughter Janie Lovelady. Grandchildren: Laura McClain and husband Jay Meyer, Leslie McClain and husband Mark Bakios, Mary Cris Lovelady, Jay (Leslie) Lovelady, Julian Stauffer, Elizabeth (Joe) Cassidy, and Camille (Mikal) Clark. 13 Great-grandchildren. 4 Great-Great Grandchildren.

Jane was a beautiful person, inside and out. She was kind to everyone she met, and never seemed to meet a stranger. She could talk to anyone about anything. She watched Jeopardy every day and almost always knew the final Jeopardy answer! She was a wonderful Mother, Grandmother and friend. She will be greatly missed.

There is no service planned. Please consider a donation in Mother's name to Springfield Contemporary Theatre, or Springfield Art Museum.