Use the form below to share any thoughts, memories or photos you may have of Jayne (even if you already shared them at the ceremony). Please be aware that comments posted may not show up immediately (there is a technical issue at play) but be assured they will be live on the website within a day of posting. Contact Jake if you have any questions or issues.
A few images just to see if this all works…I think Jayne would be happy to know we are all sharing old stories and photos and possibly making new connections in the process.
The one pic shows maybe some uncertainty when the moving truck was being loaded up back in Oneonta, NY for a pretty drastic change of scenery (to Lugano, Switzerland circa 1993), but the others show all the good times and adventures that followed…in Switzerland, later in southern Maryland, the UAE and then Coupeville, WA with many other stops in between.
Cool Jake, -One on ta- and beyond
Jayne was my godmother chosen when I was born. I really considered her my other mother and she was there for me throughout my life. I was able to see her in WA while she was at home during family. I hold that visit dear to my heart and am so grateful to have been able to see her before her passing. I recall her teaching me ballet, her passion for dogs and cooking, her Christmas sandwiches and focaccia. Thankfully she finally gave me the recipes after several years of asking, always wondered if she wanted to hold them for a while :). Anyway Jayne, I miss you, love you and will always carry those memories of your shows, food, smile and times at Pine Lake with me forever. Thank you for being in my life.
Aaron, always a family member. Good to have known you also.
My best memories of Jayne were in Ticino and the evenings spent at their place in via Cresperone. She and Tim would create the most amazing dinners, lunches and get-togethers. Everyone always felt relaxed and welcomed. For me it was an oasis. At a time when I was still struggling to figure out a lot of life stuff, Jayne was my confidant. She was more than a friend – she was like a sister, a mother, and an oracle – all in one. Jayne had an elegance, beauty and grace about her like no one else I knew. She loved the sun and it always felt like somehow she was radiating a warmth to everyone around her. Jayne was fun and her personality was larger than life. She had so much poise in everything she did and watching her, I somehow felt like I too was in one of her ballet classes. Our get-togethers continued long after the evenings on the Cresperone. Like in the good old days, Karen and I often went together to visit. And nothing ever changed. Jayne was always the same bubbly, engaging and witty person I first met in 1993. Thank you for all you shared, my dear friend. The void you leave is immense and you will never be forgotten.
Douglas,
Dan here, Jayne’s brother-in-law. nice to here your comments and I enjoyed your pictures.
Peace,
I met Jayne for the first time when she and Tim came to 309 Brook Street, Elgin IL in 1968 or 1969 and she met the family. A bit overwhelming, I imagine, considering the size of our family and all our relatives. She fit right in and blessed us with her presence and love from that moment. We will forever miss her.
Remembering Jayne’s smile, the one that was ever-present and made her whole being shine
Remembering her grace and elegance
Remembering her gentleness and kindness for everyone
Remembering her thoughtfulness, especially her letters that were so her, from far and away
Remembering my dear, dear sister Jayne always.
Thanks Jane. Beautifully said.
There’s no way I could distill more than fifty years of friendship with Jayne into a small space such as this one. Into a novel? Well, yes, but for obvious reasons, let’s ignore that option in order to tell about a small part of our friendship that has brought so much pleasure into life, mine and everybody else’s: Jane was an indomitable travel agent.
Yeah, that must sound funny, and I hope it does, but it’s true, although the word “insistent” might be a better choice. When she and Tim and Ruth and Jake reversed Columbus and utterly changed my life by introducing me into the New World of Spain back in 1983, she got the splendid idea into her head that Tim and I needed to get out of Madrid. I don’t know whether she devised the trip into Northeastern Spain or not, and I don’t remember how persistent she needed to be, but one morning before dawn, Tim and I caught a train to Soria and days later to Zaragoza. Thanks to her, when we later returned to Madrid, I was not the same person, and I don’t think Tim was either.
Some years later, she said she had gotten tired of hearing her husband and his brothers, Mike and Pat , talk about traveling to Ireland. I don’t remember an ultimatum, but the message I got at the time was: either go to Ireland or don’t talk about it anymore. So the three brothers flew to Ireland, and thanks to her, haven’t been the same persons since.
There’s more, of course, not even mentioning focaccia, but it’s hard to see the keyboard as I’m trying to write this. She was a special person. I miss her.
Thanks, brother.
Dan
There will never be another Jayne in my life. We were sisters before we were sister in laws. She, such a beautiful, inspiring, accepting woman, an amazing mother, learner, ballerina and creative spirit…..a Renaissance Woman!
I have many memories with Jayne, but a favorite is traipsing through every cemetery, bapristry and church in Lugano. We lit candles for our children in every church; we talked about life and love; we took joy in our love of travel, in our friendship and the honesty that came from that. I feel so fortunate our paths crossed in a myriad of ways. I will always love and cherish you, Jayne.
Thanks Kay, always blessings toward you both.
Thanks Kay. Beautifully said.
(The following was read at the memorial gathering for Jayne)
Jayne Stefani Keating, Approximately
It’s a singular pleasure and honor to be here with you all, who knew and loved Jayne best, at this, her antepenultimate waltz, antepenultimate, because Jayne will never have a last waltz as far as I’m concerned. For those of you familiar with the film The Last Waltz, you could consider me the Michael McClure figure, who’s been with Keatings throughout life, but perhaps, unwittingly, adds an unneccessarily esoteric angle to the tribute. But I promise not to recite the Canterbury Tales.
I’m Wes Weaver, coming to you from Cortland, New York. I’m here to celebrate Jayne with love, humor, irony, enthusiasm, and all of the other things that Jayne continues to bring out from within us that make her such an incredible, unforgetable, enigmatic, singular person. I’ve known Jayne, Tim, Ruth, and Jake for 44 years. I was a student of Tim´s at Hartwick College, and I even babysat Ruth and Jake a couple of times (ah, truth be told, they baby sat me). You could say that in large part, thanks to Tim and Jayne, I fell in love with Spain, where I met my wife of 37 years, and had my own versions of Ruth and Jake. Tim and Jayne were and are, and will continue to be unquestionable models for my marriage and family life. Good love, good kids, good life.
I also became a Spanish professor and a Dylanologist because of them. I met Jayne at a Faculty reception for new students at Hartwick in September of 1978, and of course was instantly transfixed by her wit and charm. Jayne ruled the room, as she would whenever and wherever we all got together in subsequent years: Oneonta, Syracuse, Cortland, Maryland, DC, and of course, Madrid, where Jayne proved time and again that she is the most Spanish non-Spaniard I’ve ever met. Duende.
Thanks to Jake, I have the opportunity to share this photo with you all. I’m sure there are a million other more representative shots of Jayne, but this one is special to me because it’s the last time we were together, in 2015, right before a Bob Dylan concert at the Modell Lyric in Baltimore.
Jayne made us Cosmopolitans that day, and we were sitting in the yard enjoying them. I like this photo because even though Jayne is incredibly beautiful, it captures aspects of her inner beauty: concentration, attention, wisdom, zen, quietude. If you had seen Jayne in action while Tim and I were engaged in one of our rants about the uncanny perfection of Bob Dylan, the allure of Spanish poetry, art, wine, crossword puzzles, soccer, whatever, you would have thought, perhaps, that she was always a second or two behind the conversation. ¡Craso errot! Big mistake! Au contraire; she was always thinking three or four minutes ahead of us. Two examples will suffice. Jayne’s take on Dylan’s long-awaited 2001 album Love and Theft: “Tim, ‘Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum’ is the stupidest song. I hate it!” Or, Jayne on Dylan’s vocals from some obscure bootleg I scored for Tim: “Well, Wes, He sounds like he’s trying to imitate the Bill Murray lounge singer from Saturday Night Live”. Right now she’s probably saying “Yeah, right Wes, nice picture. I’m putting my glasses away, you doo-doo.”
Jayne, I love you, I miss you …
No te has ido. Es que antes, unidos cuerpo y alma, estabas entre el mundo.
Y ahora (no te has ido) alma y cuerpo distantes, el mundo está dentro de ti.
I’ll translate; it’s a poem by Juan Ramón Jiménez.
You haven’t left. It’s just that before, body and soul united, you were among us in the world.
And now (you haven’t left!) soul and body somewhat removed, the whole world is within you.
Te quiero siempre, Jayne.
Jayney was the most special person I know. So charismatic, she had a captivating aura around her that drew everyone in. She was kind, supportive, generous, and really, really funny!
She was also an out-of-this-world cook. Of course she was stunning and had the alluring grace of the ballet dancer that she was. Always up for adventure, she’d travel anywhere. She was my bestest friend at one point in time. We used to have SO MUCH FUN TOGETHER.
I got to know her as a student during a Hartwick College semester in Spain that her husband Tim led. Older than all the other students, she and I gravitated toward each other. I knew Ruth and Jake since they were very, very young (I babysat for them in Valencia) and watched them grow up. I visited Jayney and Tim numerous times in Oneonta after I graduated as well as in Spain and Lugano. Jayney, as well as Tim, would often visit me in Manhattan when I lived there in the 80s.
I am heartbroken knowing she’s not on this earth anymore but she leaves an unforgettable legacy.
My love to you always, Jayney
Hey and hello to you Barby Bickel,
I remember some good times with you and the Keating
Family of Oneonta around 1976.
God Bless,
I was happy to see that brother Tim intended to get married after
graduating from college and was starting a new life with a new
family. I knew he had picked the right person because he was that
well-grounded individual, making the best choices, going through
with good decisions. Jayne must have said “yes” to Tim also
a good decision.
I first met Jayne when they were returning to the States after
having travelled through Canada. I was returning home along the
path from Grandpa Ben’s house when Tim and Jayne were coming
from the opposite direction. She recognized me, gave me a kiss,
and all three of us began talking about Canada and the beautiful
time they had on their honeymoon recommending the experience
highly.
My younger brothers and sisters, the newlyweds, and myself piled
into their 55 Oldsmobile sedan named OTTO and headed for the
lake in Wisconsin. Jayne was planning on teaching kindergarten in
the fall so she had us singing Row Row Row the boat (in the round),
Old McDonald’s Farm (can you imagine the sounds) Farmer in the
Dell, and other childhood nursery rhymes we hadn’t sung for a long
time. It was a lot of fun.
Jayne had been a little concerned about meeting the rest of the
family and Tim was always reassuring that all would be fine.
Throughout the many years Jayne has always gotten along
well and has been very supportive of everyone. I can remember
reading the beautiful family letters that were sent to Doris and
were passed around. Doris liked them especially and commented
to me on the quality of the writing. Always having a positive effect
on my life, and many others, remembering her is a joy.
Jayne, may you be blessed where you are, where you’ve come from
and to where you are going
Unfortunately I have very sporadic memories of my Aunt Jayne, (they lived on the east coast us on the west ). I remember visits to Diamond Bar where our dog Buck “herded” Ruth, wonderful gifts from faraway castles, the most amazing fresh bread baking, me as a wayward pre- teen visiting the Keatings in Oneonta , my sister Gretchen’s wedding where we all had a “little” too much champagne, Grandma & Grandpa’s 50th wedding anniversary where all our family danced and visited, bar hopping with her and Mom in Laguna & San Diego and Jayne ALWAYS getting carded, visits to Temecula to see Grandma and Grandpa, and her comfort the day Grandma passed. She was always funny, kind and graceful in my eyes.
I always thought from afar she had a wonderful, amazing, charmed life with Uncle Tim, Ruth and Jake and judging by these photos and kind words it was true. Im sure she is dancing in heaven.❤️
There is no way to describe the blessing it is and was to share my life with my sister, Jayne. We were born 4 years apart to parents who gave us all the love and joy that was possible. They supported our early interests and talents — Ballet and piano. Practicing and playing together brought both the two of us and our parents a great appreciation for each other’s abilities. We also had a wonderful extended family in Sacramento of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Dad’s father was a devoted fisherman and bought a lot in Dillon Beach – about 50 mi. north of Sacto – where the men built a “cabin” where we spent many weekends and vacations. As time passed my piano became less important to me while Jayne’s ballet became her passion .
When I married and Jayne went away to college we were able to be together during her summer vacations
she was so devoted to her nieces and they to her. We missed her when she and Tim married and moved to NY … it seemed a million miles away. But we called and wrote and kept our relationship fresh. Eventually it became a yearly thing for her to come back to LA for her birthday where we would eat, drink and shop to the max and have a great time. She was a great support when I got my divorce and developed a business career. Meanwhile her Ballet Studio had grown into the largest and most admired in the region. As she and Tim traveled and lived in Spain and Switzerland , Jayne and I did trips together to surrounding areas. Our last big one was to visit our Italian relatives in Florence and Rome …. certainly an adventure made possible by her life! I was thrilled when they found the precious town of Coupville and had her grandchildren so close…. a meant to be for them. Jayne was the dearest and best sister I could have ever had. I am so grateful for all our shared times.