Jane Holland Shumate Pope, our dear Jane, died peacefully of natural causes related to Parkinson’s disease in her home at Lakeview Village in Lenexa, Kansas on February 9, 2021.  She was born on June 24, 1925, the second of four children born to John and Helen (Petersen) Holland of Milton, Iowa.  She enjoyed a wonderful childhood, growing up on a dairy farm which was first homesteaded by her great-grandfather in 1840.

Jane attended the Milton Iowa grade school and high school, enjoying singing in the chorus, acting in plays, varsity basketball, studying and learning.  She attended the University of Iowa in Iowa City, graduating magnum cum laude in 1945 with a degree in business and economics.

Jane married John Shumate in May of 1945 in Corpus Christi, Texas where he was stationed at the Naval Air Station.  At the end of World War II they moved back to Iowa City where John competed his degrees and Jane worked for several years in the President’s office until their children were born:  Mark in 1948, David in 1950 and Melissa in 1952.

The family moved to the Kansas City area in 1952, settling in Prairie Village, Kansas, became members of Asbury Methodist Church, sent their children to Shawnee Mission District schools and made lasting friendships.  Jane and John were divorced in 1969.

In 1960 Jane began a career as an executive secretary with the Marley Company, a manufacturer of water cooling towers.  She enjoyed a very satisfactory 30-year career, retiring in 1990.  In retirement Jane was able to become more active in her church, in PEO, book club, at the bridge table, etc.

During this time she began worshiping at Lake Quivira Community Ministry, serving 12 years as the church treasurer.  It was there that she re-met Al Pope, who was serving in retirement as one of the pastors, and whom she had previously known when he was an associate pastor at Asbury Church.  In 2006 they married and moved to Lakeview Village, a retirement community in Lenexa, Kansas, where they made many and treasured friends.

Jane is survived by her husband Al; her three children: Mark (Darcy) in Denver, Colorado; David (Carol) in Zionsville, Indiana; and Melissa in Overland Park, Kansas; sister Diane in East Moline, Illinois; brother John in Jacksonville, Florida; grandsons Matthew in Miami, Florida; Travis and Austin in Austin, Texas, and all of those who remember her as a loving, compassionate, and ever-optimistic soul.

Services are pending, with burial in the family plot in Milton, Iowa.  Memorial gifts may be directed to Asbury United Methodist Church or to Cross-Lines.