HOLDEN BEACH — Jane McElwee Decker, 79, died Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2019, after a two-year battle fighting ovarian cancer.
Born July 8, 1940, in Ithaca, New York, she was the loving wife of 57 years to Thomas B. Decker, who passed away on Nov. 11, 2015, and daughter of the late Andrew and Barbara McElwee.
She attended Fall Creek Elementary School, graduated from Ithaca High School, earned a B.S. Degree in Elementary Education from The Ohio State University, an M.Ed. in Administration from Ashland College and an M.A. in Counseling from North Carolina Central University.
Jane’s passion was helping children. She was an elementary school teacher for 14 years at the Columbus Academy in Ohio. She was both a counselor and the headmaster at Hale High School in Raleigh and counselor for 10 years with Wake County Public School System.
She formerly lived in Ithaca, New York; Hamburg, New York; Detroit, Michigan; Canal Winchester, Ohio; Westerville, Ohio; Raleigh; and retired at Holden Beach.
Jane was recognized by the Greater Federation of Women’s Club for her work serving the area youth, she was the club education community service program chairman and a guardian ad litem for Brunswick County. She and Tom assisted weekly with food distribution for the Wings Ministry backpack program for area schools and worked annually on Thanksgiving baskets. She enjoyed spending time with family and friends, playing bridge and reading.
Surviving are her four sons and their families, T.D. (Rozzie) Decker of Wayne, Illinois, Tom (Lee) Decker of Winston-Salem, Tim (Kelly) Decker of Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Todd (Laura) Decker of Birmingham, Alabama. She has 12 grandchildren, Bobbie, Maggie, Tommy, Ty, Drew, Katherine, Tory, Nicole, Dani, Caroline, John and Will Decker. Her siblings are William McElwee, Andrea McElwee, Katherine Cherry and Marty McElwee.
A celebration of life service will be conducted at 4:30 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 17, at the Holden Beach Chapel, where she was an active member.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the Holden Beach Chapel, 107 Rothschild St., Holden Beach, NC 28462; and Lower Cape Fear Hospice, 1414 Physicians Drive, Wilmington, NC 28401.
Share online condolences with the family at Brunswick Funeral Service.
