Jane Holcomb Short was born May 19, 1933 and died Oct. 9, 2025.

She frequently said, “We have a wonderful family.” She was right. She especially nurtured, nourished, and delighted in her four grandchildren. With them, she often bellowed her hearty laugh, bright blue eyes twinkling, wet with tears, saying, “Ohh dear!” at the end of each giggle session.

This strong woman was a gardener, an animal lover, an avid reader, a news junkie, the family progenitor of the exotic Dancing Lady Begonia and a host of other house plants, a rabid women’s Huskies’ basketball fan, and a fantastic cook.

She enjoyed a good gossip session and kept big and little secrets. As the youngest of 11 children, it was a matter of survival to manage intrigue and to know who was doing what with whom; sometimes stirring the pot made it all the juicier.

Music was her first language and she would sing in the car and in the kitchen with her parents and her two youngest siblings. A gifted soprano, she studied at Juilliard, the first in her family to attend college, before being called home to care for her ailing mother. She went on to sing with the Marlboro Chorale, performed in church choirs and countless New England Bach Festivals through the Brattleboro Music Center, and even graced the stage of Carnegie Hall under the direction of Blanche Honegger Moyse. Near the very end of her life, her beloved granddaughter brought her digitized recordings of her concerts. Hearing her own soaring 1963 performance of the Duruflé Requiem, an exquisite demonstration of her talent, brought her pure joy and was an appropriate final encore for a life well sung.

She was fiercely independent. Stubborn. Physically strong and proud of it. She often said, “I’m a farmer’s daughter from good German stock.” She also had some English trapper and Native American spirit mixed in. She spent most of her life as a loyal Vermonter and coined the term “Holcombitis” to describe her own restlessness; she had an irresistible urge to get up and go somewhere, anywhere, at any time. Red-haired until it turned white, she never fussed with her appearance but she did like to wear blue to match her striking eyes, and she did take care to get her hair cut short in a consistent way. She always wore a watch, even at the end, as though time could be tamed; perhaps a graceful defiance three days before her death when she explained that “time was of the essence” and that we should gather for a bittersweet farewell, bringing her a final wish list of Cortland apples, MaryJane candies, and her family to surround her.

She was Jane Holcomb Short, born in Robertsville, Connecticut on May 19, 1933. Within her 92 years, Jane changed, grew, and evolved in response to her life’s joys and challenges. After caring for her mother, she met a handsome and charismatic Congregational minister, Wally Short in West Brattleboro, VT, and became his wife and partner in 1960 as a parent, for church suppers, choir practices, and raucous social hours in both Montpelier, Vermont and Framingham, Massachusetts. They spent many happy summers in Wardsboro, Vermont at the beautiful seasonal home of Wally’s Middlebury College roommate, with plenty of visitors, including Wally’s fellow conference minister, Lois Sundeen, who was a beloved life-long friend of the family.

After Wally’s death in 1976, Jane and her two sons moved back to Brattleboro where they ran Molly Stark Nursery for many years. Following that, she was a thoughtful caretaker to a dear friend’s large and breathtaking property in Guilford. She loved a good New England boiled dinner made with kielbasa, shortbread, using real butter, a mustard-laden liverwurst sandwich, tart sauerkraut, and delighted in any kind of smoked meat from Pekarski’s Sausage in Deerfield, Massachusetts, which was always a destination drive to in order to bring treats to holiday meals.

Besides her musical and gardening triumphs, Mamoo was an extraordinary and selfless grandmother to Jordan, John, Haley, and Timothy. All of them spent priceless time with her as she helped, big hands-on, when they were infants and children and as she watched them develop into the incredible adults they are today. Her indomitable spirit will always be a part of them and their love for her, their shared laughter, joy and fun, intellectual banter, mutual love of animals, the outdoors, “doing wood,” talking about books, gardening, going for car and truck rides, getting food, “writing my memoir,” mowing the lawns, swimming in the Guilford pond, chatting about current events: all are woven into the fabric of who they are. She carved out a safe space for each of them, not to be parted with nor forgotten. A cherished gift, one that cannot be purchased, but earned, through mutual respect and kindness. Mamoo truly saw her grandchildren and accepted each of them; and they accepted her in return, unconditionally.

Jane leaves a legacy of love for those grandchildren: Jordan, of Burlington, Vermont, Haley of Medford, Massachusetts, John and Tim of Granville, Massachusetts, and to her son, Scott and his wife Liz of Cummington, Massachusetts, her son Mark and his wife Allyson Goodwin of Trevett, Maine, to numerous nieces and nephews, and to her long-time friends, Michele Nelson and Matthew Betts.

At Jane’s request, there will not be a formal service but the family will gather at a later date to place her cremains in Wardsboro, Vermont, next to Wally, whose plain gold wedding band she wore until her last breath.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made in her name to the Brattleboro Music Center, 72 Blanche Moyse Way, Brattleboro, VT 05301.

“Don’t cry for me, for I go where music is born.” -JS Bach.