Jane Miner Harvey, age 94, died January 5th after a short illness. She was a long time Lake Forest resident and the retired Vice President of Golf Day Products mail order firm. She was born in Washington, D.C. in 1922. A rare native of Washington, D.C., she remembered ice skating in Rock Creek Park as a child and attending events at the White House where the president personally greeted and strolled among the guests. She moved to Kansas City, Missouri in 1939 when her father who worked for the IRS was sent to Kansas City to assist in the effort to shut down the Pendergast organization. She was a 1943 graduate of the University of Kansas with a B.A. in English. While attending KU she roomed with Sarah Harvey who tried to fix her up with her brother John. Jane was willing, but John was too busy. Cupid would not be deterred. While attending a lecture, Jane sat down on a chair that collapsed and the young man that leapt up to assist her was John Harvey. After graduating from KU, she worked in Kansas City as the editor of the employee newsletter at Hallmark Cards. One day while at work, young Jane, tall, slim and stylishly dressed, stepped into an elevator with J.C. Hall and Norman Rockwell and Norman Rockwell remarked that it was "just like being in New York City with the models." She married John Cole Harvey in 1947 in Kansas City, Missouri after his return from service in the Marine Corps in World War II. They relocated to the Chicago area when her husband joined the Leo Burnett Advertising Agency. She was a resident of Lake Forest since 1962 and loved to entertain with family and friends at her home. She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Lake Forest. She took pleasure in researching the genealogy of her family and was a member of the Thomas Minor Society. She worked as an editor in many paid and volunteer positions including the Lake Forest Girl Scouts and PTA and her family grew up reading a re-edited version of the Chicago Tribune as it was her habit to read the paper with a red pen and mark typos and errors in grammar that she found. Her husband, after leaving the advertising business, started the mail order business Golf Day Products and she put her organizational and editorial talents to work as the Vice President of the company helping grow the business from a four-page black and white flyer to a 48-page full color catalog which they sold upon their retirement. She enjoyed spending time with her family and encouraged all to do well in life and once said "if there is something you always wanted to do, you should do it now." She was a devoted and loving wife, mother, grandmother and sister. She was preceded in death by her husband, John Cole Harvey. She leaves three children, Scott Miner Harvey of Winchester, MA, Gayle Harvey Edson of Wakefield, MA and Joan Windsor Harvey of Northbrook, IL; grandchildren, Braden Harvey, Shannon Harvey, Christina Edson and step-granddaughter, Danielle Edson Pierce. Mrs. Harvey was helped in her later years by her loving caregivers Esther Moreno, Carmen Sanchez, and Amalia Guerrero. Donations in her memory may be made to Heller Nature Center, 636 Ridge Road, Highland Park, IL 60035. www.hellernaturecenter.org. Interment will be at The Memorial Gardens of Lake Forest Cemetery. Memorial reception to be planned. Info: Wenban Funeral Home, www.wenbanfh.com or (847)234-0022.
Published in a Chicago Tribune Media Group Publication on Jan. 8, 2017