Jane Hartley Napier, 95, of Springfield, died in her sleep on Friday, September 14, at her home.

Born June 19, 1923 in Bolivar, Missouri, Jane was the daughter of George Jesse Hartley and Tennessee (Jackson) Hartley.  She often told of her experiences during the 1929 Bolivar tornado when she was swept up by the wind, blown off of the porch of her Austin Street home, and set down in a brush pile a field away.  She was not hurt, but lamented the loss of one of her brand new t-strap shoes.  With her parents in failing health, Jane's family returned to Webster County on March 10, 1933.

In 1941 Jane graduated from Marshfield High School, where she played the viola and violin in the school's string quartet and orchestra.  She graduated from Southwest Missouri State College (now Missouri State University) with a B.S. in Music Education, and taught music in several Missouri schools—including Mountain Grove and Fort Leonard Wood.    Jane delighted in staying in touch with former students, especially reconnecting later in life with her Mountain Grove "girls" who came to visit.

In 1946 Jane married Cecil Napier, of Houston, Missouri.   Jane met Cecil through her previous high school music teacher, who had since married Cecil's uncle Curtis Napier in Houston.  That teacher thought Cecil should meet Jane, turned out she was right. Jane was teaching music in Mountain Grove at that time.

In 1961 Jane and Cecil moved to Springfield to open "Crazy Cecil's," an early influencer in the soon to be booming discount store revolution.

Cecil preceded Jane in death in 1986.  Before that they enjoyed life, seeing the world.  They traveled often to Europe, and to China, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Hong Kong, numerous times to Canada, Mexico, and to all fifty states more than once.  Interest in the world continued for Jane, including a trip with cousins to explore the then Soviet Union, from Moscow to St. Petersburg (then Leningrad) all the way down to Uzbekistan near the Afghanistan border, part of the old Silk Route.  There a good-sized earthquake in the Afghan mountains shook them awake in the night but did not level the town.  Jane believed that travel is an education, so included her daughters as well as her grandchildren in many adventures throughout her life.

After moving to Springfield Jane no longer taught school, but was supportive of the arts community including Springfield Symphony, Community Concerts, Springfield Little Theater, and was one of the Wall of Honor contributors to construction of the Juanita K. Hammons Hall at Missouri State University.  She also endowed the Napier Family Scholarship for students in the MSU Department of Music.

Jane was a lifelong avid reader.  Her subscription to National Geographic dates back to 1957.  She prowled bookstores, especially Barnes & Noble after it appeared.  She studied the New York Times book reviews, circling and underlining things that sparked her interest.  She read everything, fiction and non-fiction, but she only liked hardback books, not paperbacks.  She loved reading history, especially American history, especially biographies of our founding fathers, American presidents, first ladies, and all good stories about how America came to be and all our struggles since to make it ever stronger. She donated many books to the Springfield Library, and sent a constant flow of books to friends and family.

Jane descended from early pioneers of Greene (now Webster) County Missouri who settled north of what is now Marshfield in 1843.  As the family genealogist Jane worked hard and traveled far to trace her family lineage, finding new family and friends along the way.  She was a longtime member of First Baptist Church, a life member of the Rachel Donelson Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, the Stukely Westcott Chapter Daughter of the American Colonists,  Mary Whitney Phelps Tent Daughters of Union Veterans, Springfield Ladies Saturday Club and the Davidson Country North Carolina Genealogical Society.

She was a wonderful mother, grandmother and friend.  She made countless phone calls and wrote countless letters to her family, students and friends.  She and her college classmate Gertrude Bechtold enjoyed many concerts, cards and weeknight visits to Steak & Shake for years.  In 1936, as a high school freshman, Jane found a pen pal in the Philippines.  They never met, but until health prevented it in 2015, they wrote letters for birthdays and Christmas, every year except during "the War" when it was not possible.

Jane is survived by daughters Susan Jane Napier and Sally Ann Napier Bueno and husband Cesar Bueno; grandchildren Nicole Julianna Bueno and Scott Alan Napier Jenkins.  She was also preceded in death by her brothers James Robert Hartley, Jesse Laban Hartley, and half brother and sister Leonard Hartley and Garnet Hartley.

A memorial visitation will be held Saturday, September 22, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., at Gorman Scharpf Funeral Home.  Private family graveside services will be held at a later date at Timber Ridge Cemetery in Webster County.

In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the Napier Family Music Scholarship at Missouri State University, 300 S. Jefferson, Suite 100, Springfield, MO, 65806, or to a charity of the donor's choice.