Obituary for Jane Mary Laurene (Smith)
Jane Mary Smith Laurene, 93, passed away at College Walk in Brevard, NC on Wednesday March 10, 2021. The middle child of three girls, she was born in Troy, NY to Thomas F. Smith and Lillian M. Craft.
Jane’s fondest childhood memories were connected with the years her family lived in a rental farmhouse in the countryside near Troy, NY. During the Great Depression, the family moved to the city. Jane graduated from Troy High School with high marks. Following graduation, she was employed as a secretary at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute where her future husband, Anders (“Andy”) H. Laurene, received his doctorate in chemistry.
Jane and Andy met at an ice-skating rink on New Year’s Day in 1950. They married the following June, and were blessed with more than 51 wonderful years together. Jane and Andy had two sons, Arne and Mark. They moved to Peoria, Illinois where Andy taught chemistry at Bradley University for two years. The family then moved to Winston-Salem, NC where Andy worked in the research department of RJR Tobacco for 25 years, retiring as the Vice-President of Research and Development.
The family had only been in Winston-Salem a couple of years when Jane’s life was changed forever. Her younger son, Mark, contracted measles encephalitis. He was in a coma for more than 2 weeks. Mark came out of the coma with brain damage and epilepsy. About 5 years later, Mark had a severe brain injury when he ran headlong into a tree. Brain surgery was required to remove a subdural hematoma. Mark never progressed beyond early grade school. He would forget what you taught him, and would have to be taught again and again, but Jane rarely lost her patience. It was the constant worry over his unpredictable epilepsy attacks that affected Jane the most. She could never relax. She always had to be watching him and thinking ahead to keep him safe.
After their older son, Arne, went off to college, Andy built the family a country home on rural acreage near Mocksville, NC. This move was mainly to give Mark lots of room to run and play, while still being close enough for Andy to commute to work in Winston-Salem. Living in the country again was just as wonderful and peaceful as Jane remembered from her childhood days. She once again had a “Scottie-dog”, and as many flower gardens as she could manage. Andy put in a large family vegetable garden, fruit trees, and strawberry beds. Jane preserved their homegrown produce each year. She delighted in showing off all her glass jars of canned green beans and tomatoes lining the shelves of her walk-in pantry.
Jane also loved taking sewing classes. She said she was inspired by her maternal grandfather who was a tailor who owned his own shop. Over the years, she did embroidery and other sewing crafts until her eyesight and arthritis made it too much of a challenge.
Jane’s son Mark died when he was 28 after living several wonderful years in the Mocksville countryside. Jane always said that she was grateful that Mark had stopped growing after his brain surgery. Since he looked like a child, he was treated like a child. Had he grown and looked like an adult but acted like a child, she said he would have had been treated much more differently.
After Andy retired from RJR, he and Jane took some enjoyable long trips to Europe, often staying in one location for a few weeks at a time to really get to know the area. They made long-lasting friendships in France, and reconnected with Andy’s Swedish relatives.
The last years of Andy’s life were rough on Jane as he battled lymphoma. After Andy became unable to handle the home and land maintenance, they sold their beloved county home near Mocksville. They moved to Carriage Club Senior Living in Charlotte, NC to be closer to Arne and his wife and their two children. Andy passed away in 2002. Jane and Andy had been married over 51 years.
In 2013, Arne retired from his structural engineering business, and he and his wife moved to Pisgah Forest, NC. Jane soon followed, moving into the College Walk Retirement Community in Brevard in 2014. She lived there the rest of her life. She made many friends there with both residents and staff.
Jane had a gift of remembering everyone’s names, and was genuinely interested in their stories and their families. Jane also kept up with all the local and national news of the day, and usually had an opinion about what was going on in the world. She had a soft and generous heart. She was sustained by her faith, and the love of her family. She will be greatly missed by all who knew her.
Jane was pre-deceased by her parents Thomas F. and Lillian M. (Craft) Smith; sisters Ruth A. (Smith) Brott, and Doris A. (Smith) (Coonradt) Austin; husband Anders H. Laurene, and son Mark O. Laurene.
Jane is survived by her son Arne Laurene and his wife Nancy (Sasnett) Laurene of Pisgah Forest, NC. Other survivors include grandchildren Laura (Laurene) Chancey and her husband, Mark Chancey of Solsberry, IN, and Lisa (Laurene) Roth and her husband Ryan Roth of Apex, NC. Her great-grandchildren are Corwin Chancey, Kayla Chancey, Kara Roth, and Lukas Roth.
The family wishes to extend a special thank-you to Jenny Roberts, a companion to Jane for several months in her last year. Also, to Beth and Linda of Solutions Eldercare of Brevard, and to the College Walk nurses and staff who all took such loving care of Jane.
A private family graveside service was held at Westlawn Gardens of Memory Cemetery in Clemmons, NC on March 17, 2021.
Online condolences may be left at www.moodyconnollyfuneralhome.com.
Jane’s fondest childhood memories were connected with the years her family lived in a rental farmhouse in the countryside near Troy, NY. During the Great Depression, the family moved to the city. Jane graduated from Troy High School with high marks. Following graduation, she was employed as a secretary at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute where her future husband, Anders (“Andy”) H. Laurene, received his doctorate in chemistry.
Jane and Andy met at an ice-skating rink on New Year’s Day in 1950. They married the following June, and were blessed with more than 51 wonderful years together. Jane and Andy had two sons, Arne and Mark. They moved to Peoria, Illinois where Andy taught chemistry at Bradley University for two years. The family then moved to Winston-Salem, NC where Andy worked in the research department of RJR Tobacco for 25 years, retiring as the Vice-President of Research and Development.
The family had only been in Winston-Salem a couple of years when Jane’s life was changed forever. Her younger son, Mark, contracted measles encephalitis. He was in a coma for more than 2 weeks. Mark came out of the coma with brain damage and epilepsy. About 5 years later, Mark had a severe brain injury when he ran headlong into a tree. Brain surgery was required to remove a subdural hematoma. Mark never progressed beyond early grade school. He would forget what you taught him, and would have to be taught again and again, but Jane rarely lost her patience. It was the constant worry over his unpredictable epilepsy attacks that affected Jane the most. She could never relax. She always had to be watching him and thinking ahead to keep him safe.
After their older son, Arne, went off to college, Andy built the family a country home on rural acreage near Mocksville, NC. This move was mainly to give Mark lots of room to run and play, while still being close enough for Andy to commute to work in Winston-Salem. Living in the country again was just as wonderful and peaceful as Jane remembered from her childhood days. She once again had a “Scottie-dog”, and as many flower gardens as she could manage. Andy put in a large family vegetable garden, fruit trees, and strawberry beds. Jane preserved their homegrown produce each year. She delighted in showing off all her glass jars of canned green beans and tomatoes lining the shelves of her walk-in pantry.
Jane also loved taking sewing classes. She said she was inspired by her maternal grandfather who was a tailor who owned his own shop. Over the years, she did embroidery and other sewing crafts until her eyesight and arthritis made it too much of a challenge.
Jane’s son Mark died when he was 28 after living several wonderful years in the Mocksville countryside. Jane always said that she was grateful that Mark had stopped growing after his brain surgery. Since he looked like a child, he was treated like a child. Had he grown and looked like an adult but acted like a child, she said he would have had been treated much more differently.
After Andy retired from RJR, he and Jane took some enjoyable long trips to Europe, often staying in one location for a few weeks at a time to really get to know the area. They made long-lasting friendships in France, and reconnected with Andy’s Swedish relatives.
The last years of Andy’s life were rough on Jane as he battled lymphoma. After Andy became unable to handle the home and land maintenance, they sold their beloved county home near Mocksville. They moved to Carriage Club Senior Living in Charlotte, NC to be closer to Arne and his wife and their two children. Andy passed away in 2002. Jane and Andy had been married over 51 years.
In 2013, Arne retired from his structural engineering business, and he and his wife moved to Pisgah Forest, NC. Jane soon followed, moving into the College Walk Retirement Community in Brevard in 2014. She lived there the rest of her life. She made many friends there with both residents and staff.
Jane had a gift of remembering everyone’s names, and was genuinely interested in their stories and their families. Jane also kept up with all the local and national news of the day, and usually had an opinion about what was going on in the world. She had a soft and generous heart. She was sustained by her faith, and the love of her family. She will be greatly missed by all who knew her.
Jane was pre-deceased by her parents Thomas F. and Lillian M. (Craft) Smith; sisters Ruth A. (Smith) Brott, and Doris A. (Smith) (Coonradt) Austin; husband Anders H. Laurene, and son Mark O. Laurene.
Jane is survived by her son Arne Laurene and his wife Nancy (Sasnett) Laurene of Pisgah Forest, NC. Other survivors include grandchildren Laura (Laurene) Chancey and her husband, Mark Chancey of Solsberry, IN, and Lisa (Laurene) Roth and her husband Ryan Roth of Apex, NC. Her great-grandchildren are Corwin Chancey, Kayla Chancey, Kara Roth, and Lukas Roth.
The family wishes to extend a special thank-you to Jenny Roberts, a companion to Jane for several months in her last year. Also, to Beth and Linda of Solutions Eldercare of Brevard, and to the College Walk nurses and staff who all took such loving care of Jane.
A private family graveside service was held at Westlawn Gardens of Memory Cemetery in Clemmons, NC on March 17, 2021.
Online condolences may be left at www.moodyconnollyfuneralhome.com.