Jane Baum

Friday, March 19, 2021

5:00 to 7:00pm

Kassly-Meridith Funeral Home, Collinsville, IL.

Saturday, March 20, 2021

11:00am

Kassly-Meridith Funeral Home, Collinsville, IL.

Jane Baum, 88 of Collinsville, IL, passed away Tuesday, March 16, 2021 at Anderson Hospital in Maryville, IL.

Jane Baum was born on July 13, 1932 in Keokuk, Iowa to Aubrey and Bernice Allen. She was their only child and was the apple of their eyes.

Growing up, Jane was very close to her four cousins, Susie, Patty, Ginny, and Dodie, who lived in Quincy, Illinois. She often visited with them in Quincy, and they visited at her home in Keokuk. Jane attended Wells Carey grade school where she met her best lifelong friend, Jewel Wright. She was a member of the Disciples of Christ First Christian Church in Keokuk, as was Jewell. Others who attended First Christian and became close friends were Marilyn Engler and Marilyn McDonald. Jane was very active in her church her entire life. She sang in the choir, served on many committees and volunteered for many activities. In later years she moved to Collinsville, Illinois but always considered First Christian in Keokuk her home church.

After graduating from Keokuk Senior High School, she decided to attend nursing school at Blessing Hospital School of Nursing in Quincy, Illinois. While there she made many friends. She often told tales of going to the Quincy Maidrite during their one free hour in the evening and the time she attended training in Cook County, Chicago. She worked in the newborn nursery and carried memories of the children and infants she cared for there with her the rest of her life.

After she graduated from nursing school, she accepted a job as an industrial nurse at Sheller Globe in Keokuk, Iowa where she met her husband, Forrest “Frank” Baum. They began dating, but broke up when Jane, driving down Main street with a friend, saw Frank pull up alongside in a car with another girl. She told him they were through. Shortly after that he asked her to marry him, and she accepted! Not long after they were married, Jane became pregnant with their first daughter, Julie, and quit working as a nurse. Brenda was born four years later.

As Frank was an avid outdoorsman, Jane spent many hours loading up the camper for weekends spent fishing, sitting around the campfire, eating, playing cards, and socializing with their camping buddies, Evelyn and Jerry Hamilton and Jim and Judy Billings. They made many trips to various areas of the country but returned every summer to Lake Ozark and to Eminence, Missouri to spend time on the beautiful waters of the Jacks Fork River.

Jane eventually returned to work as a nurse at Keokuk Convalescent Center working with elderly residents, which she greatly enjoyed. She used her earnings to help put her daughter Brenda through college.

After Frank and Jane retired, they made even more trips in their large motorhome which they eventually purchased, including many trips during the winter to visit Frank’s two sisters and their families in Corpus Christi, Texas. They also visited their daughter Julie and her family in Texas and daughter Brenda in the St. Louis area, enjoying all of the activities the St. Louis area has to offer.

In 2012, they sold their home in Iowa and moved to a smaller home in Collinsville, Illinois to be closer to family. Shortly thereafter, Frank passed away. Even though she was almost 80 years old at the time, Jane made friends in the area, including her neighbor who introduced her to a group of women she played dominoes with. She became a huge Cardinals fan; she knew the names of all the players and enjoyed going to a game every summer. Above all, she enjoyed spending time with her children and grandchildren, going to the zoo, watching movies, going to the Muny, festivals, pumpkin patch and other activities. She also began attending church at Saint John’s United Church of Christ in Collinsville and enjoyed the mosaic services there, particularly the beautiful music. In the last year, she moved into an assisted living apartment at Cedarhurst of Collinsville, where she made more new friends.

We will miss her terribly. She was the best mother anyone could ever have to Brenda and Julie, a wonderful grandmother to Leslie, Bethanie, and Alexandra, and a loving great grandmother to Madlyn and Arabella. We are so fortunate to have had her in our lives.

Memorials may be made to  Disciples of Christ First Christian Church in Keokuk, Iowa.

Visitation: Friday, March 19, 2021, from 5:00 to 7:00pm, at Kassly-Meridith Funeral Home, Collinsville, IL.

Funeral Service: Saturday, March 20, 2021, 11:00am, Kassly-Meridith Funeral Home, Collinsville, IL.

Internment: St. John Cemetery.

Kassly-Meridith Funeral Home, Collinsville, IL.