WILMINGTON — Jane Ellen Brown Garner, formerly of Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, died peacefully at Novant Hospital in Wilmington, North Carolina, on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, of an extended illness, a few hours shy of her seventy-eighth birthday.
Jane leaves behind her husband of almost 59 years whom she loved deeply, Elmo Lee Garner, her daughters Kimberly Jane Garner Respess (Mark), Mary Margaret Elizabeth Garner Tulip (JT), a son, Samuel Elmo Garner (Meghan), her granddaughters Lillian Jane Respess, Ella Cathleen Garner, and Sydney Elizabeth Tulip; and her grandson William Grady Respess, as well as cousins that she adored and dear friends she made along the way throughout her life. You know who you are. Her nephew, Ethan Long (Anna), and her niece, Ruth Long (Shawn), held a special place in her heart.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Joe Franklin Brown and Mary Lillian Pittman Brown, her brothers, Robert Franklin Brown and William Shepard Brown, and her sister, Carol Arden Brown Long. She is also preceded in death by her aunts, Lella K. Brown and Irma Jean Pittman Moore, as well as her cousins, Larry C. Brown, Charles Reese Pittman, and Samuel Thomas Moore III.
A resident of Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina for nearly fifty years, Jane was born in Tifton, Georgia, where she spent the first twelve years of her life. She was a member of All Saints Episcopal Church. In earlier years, she was active with the Roanoke Rapids Arts Council and enjoyed performing in plays at the Canal Arts Center. Many of her children’s friends gravitated towards her and felt at home in the Garner house, and Jane had a way of lending a sympathetic ear to young people who seemed a little lost and in need of understanding. Many loved her.
She enjoyed reading, and because of that passion, she was a well-educated woman. She also had love for, and held many great memories of, her friends, for whom she had so much gratitude, at that iconic building on Tenth Street, with whom she trudged the Road of Happy Destiny in the Fellowship of the Spirit. She loved and appreciated many types of music, history, and science fiction, plus everything in between. Books and music were her paradise.
As a child, she dreamed of flying like Peter Pan, so she even parachuted out of an airplane once. She did her best to share her varied literary, historical, and musical passions with her children and grandchildren, and they have each benefited in different ways from those gifts she shared. She was loved, she was a free spirit, and she will be missed.
How does one find Neverland?
“Second (star) to the right, and straight on till morning.”
Those who loved her take comfort in knowing that Jane has flown home to God, where she is happy, joyous, and free.
There will be a private family service held at a later date. Memorial gifts in Jane’s memory can be made to The Masonic Home for Children at Oxford (formerly Oxford Orphanage) in Oxford, North Carolina, or to the charity of one’s choice.
Please leave memories and condolences for Jane’s family here.
