Jan Wade Vaughan

JAN WADE VAUGHAN Jan Wade Vaughan passed away Dec. 11, 2005, at Southwest Memorial Hospital. No services are planned at this time. A Quaker meeting for worship for remembrance will be held at a place, time and date to be announced, followed by a celebration of her memory. Her remains have been cremated. Jan was born on June 7, 1945, in Durango, to Kathleen (McCaskill) and Jack Jay Wade. She was a true child of Mesa Verde, where her father was chief ranger and her mother was postmaster. She attended elementary school at Mesa Verde and spent many happy hours playing and exploring with the Waite and Nelson Girls and other park kids. Big brother Bill was always her hero, and legendary naturalist Don Watson and archaeologist Jean Pinkley were part of her 'family.' Jan graduated from Montezuma-Cortez High School in 1963; she also attended Wasatch Academy. After attending Colorado State University, Jan received her BA in vocal music from Fort Lewis College. On her 25th birthday, June 7, 1970, Jan Wade married Tom Vaughan in the Chapin Mesa campfire circle at Mesa Verde. They traveled together in the National Park Service to Kona, Hi.; Hana, Maui; Point Reyes, Calif.; Ganado, Ariz. (where son Drayton Wade Vaughan was born in Gallup, N.M.); Deer Lodge, Mont. (where daughter Noi Anne Vaughan was born); Shepherdstown, W. Va.; and Chaco Canyon, N.M., a place Jan loved dearly. Wherever she could, Jan sang in a community chorus, and was part of a Na Leo o Hana recording in Hana, where she also edited the community newspaper, The Hana Bull. In 1989, Jan returned with her family to the Mancos Valley, where her great-grandfather John James Wade had settled 110 years earlier. The reason for the move was to get the kids closer to school, but it was also a welcome homecoming for Jan. It was a special joy for her to have Drayton and Noi graduate from the same high school their grandfather did. Jan was active in school activities, becoming a 'band trip junkie,' going on trips with the MHS band under Janie Silver's direction. She was also an active member and officer of the Mancos Valley Association. Before illness curtailed her activities, Jan's special interests were singing in the Mancos Valley Chorus and volunteering as an advocate and board member of Renew, Inc., serving victims of domestic violence. Jan was never without a cat, house plants or a needlework project. Her heart soared in recent years at the sight or sound of grandsons Seth and Aiden. Jan was preceded in death by her parents. She lives on in the hearts of her brother and sister-in-law Bill and Sherrie Wade, Tucson, Ariz.; son and daughter-in-law Drayton and Katie Vaughan, Fort Collins, Colo.; daughter Noi Vaughan, partner Lucas Calhoun, and sons Seth Underwood and Aiden Calhoun and, Durango; step-daughter Beth Breidenbach, husband Steve Breidenbach and sons David Hoppe and Christopher Hoppe, Cheney, Wash.; former sister-in-law Karen Wade, Fortine, Mont.; nephew Michael Wade, wife Beth and daughters Jessica and Abigail, Gainesville, Va.; niece Mylea Wade, Strasburg, Va.; cousins Jon Colvin, Chinle, Ariz., Karen English, Tucson, Ariz., Mary Kay Whisler, Boulder, Colo., William (Kay) Rafferty, Spokane, Wash., and an extended family of cousins and friends. Donations may be made in the memory of Jan Wade Vaughan to Renew, Inc., P.O. Box 169, Cortez, CO 81321, or to the Mancos Valley Chorus, 13102 CR 42, Mancos, CO 81328.