Jane Reppert Jenks Small

Small—Jane Reppert Jenks Small, 96, on August 26, 2018, at Foxdale Village in State College, Pa. Jane was born on August 3, 1922, in Philipsburg, Pa., the oldest of six daughters of Eleanor Rae Runk and James Harold Reppert. She grew up in Plainfield, N.J.; graduated from North Plainfield High School in 1940; and attended Swarthmore College and Wheelock College of Education in Brookline, Mass., before marrying Barton L. Jenks Jr. in 1943. Joining State College Meeting in 1952 when Bart began work at Pennsylvania State University, five years later she worked with others in the community to establish Schlow Centre Region Library. Once her children were older, she returned to school, obtaining a bachelor’s degree from Penn State in 1965 and later doing graduate study there. She worked for a time in the Swarthmore College Alumni Office, but the career she cherished was as a teacher for 17 years at Matternville and Ferguson Township Elementary Schools in the State College Area School District.

She and other Quaker mothers established the Cooperative Playschool for three- and four-year-old children in the basement of the State College meetinghouse. A spiritual mentor to many younger Friends and others, over time she served on every committee except Finance, and she clerked many of them, including Building and Grounds. Her positive attitude informed her interactions with people and facilitated her transitions in life. She retired from teaching in 1981. She was an early supporter of State College Friends School, serving for many years on its board of trustees; a member of the League of Women Voters for 60 years, serving on its board; and a member of the American Association of University Women for more than 50 years.

She and Bart were part of the small group that started Quaker continuing care retirement community Foxdale Village. They moved into a cottage there in 1989, even before the Community Building was finished. Bart died in 1995.

In 1998, she married Peter B. Small, who died in 2006. In addition to her parents, her five sisters, and her husbands, Jane was preceded in death by her daughter, Effie Jenks, in 2014. She is survived by a son, Barton Harold Jenks (Janet Lewis), and one grandchild.

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