Betty Jane Longdon

JANE LONGDON April 9, 1929 – April 27, 2023

Jane was the daughter of the late Wayne and Mary Longdon Jane Longdon was one of the original Boyce Campus faculty when Community College evening classes began at Gateway High School in 1966. One of the highlights of her ever-creative English classes was the Spring Semester of 1992 when she organized the Native American Semester, an interdisciplinary project, which focused on the 500th anniversary of Columbus' voyage to the New World. Many students were fascinated as they read, researched, and wrote about Native culture, attended a Pow Wow and listened to invited lecturers, drummers and singers. A sabbatical Year in London, where she studied Secondary Education programs in England and enjoyed the famous London theatre, was an enriching experience, happily shared with CCAC faculty and students. A longtime member of the Two-Year College English Association, Jane made several presentations at the Northeast Regional Conference which she attended every year. An avid skier and dancer, Jane loved the Jersey Shore in summer and took opportunities to travel in the US and abroad. One of her former colleagues remarked that Jane was always for the "underdog" in society. She loved works by American painters, particularly Edward Hopper. Her roots ran deep in Western Pennsylvania; in recent years she took a lively interest in her Murrysville community. She died at age 94 after a healthy and active life. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by a brother, Wayne W Longdon Jr. Jane is survived by her sister, Mary Lou Seaburn, nieces and nephews, Jill Merrick, Wayne Longdon, Pep Tobin and Ronald Longdon; several great nieces and nephews.  A Memorial Service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 10, 2023, at the East Suburban Unitarian Universalist Church in Murrysville.