JANE ANNE SASSEEN

Memorial services for Jane Anne Sasseen, 65, who died Sunday, April 7, 2002, will be held at 11 a.m. today at the United Protestant Church in Palmer.

Mrs. Sasseen was born June 4, 1936, in Brook Park, Minn. She came to Palmer with her parents, Harold and Carol Stephan, in 1937. She graduated from Palmer High School in 1954 and married Loren Sasseen in 1955. She attended the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, with her husband. They lived in Anchorage and raised their three daughters, Laura, Julie and Yvette. In 1978, they moved to her family's property in Palmer and built a geodesic dome house she and her husband designed.

Her family said, "Jane was a remarkable person. She had an extraordinary impact on those who were lucky enough to know her. Her vibrant spirit, keen intelligence, compassion and genuine interest and concern for others inspired people from all walks of life in a subtle but profound way. This virtue was not surprising considering Jane and Loren's capacity for kindness and goodness and their love of travel and adventure. They were both bold and focused in their seeking of ways to support human rights, conservation and other causes generally far from the provincial and self-absorbed mind-sets of many Americans. They traveled far and wide from Alaska's interior to the remote beaches of Thailand and the mountains of China. Jane had an extraordinary artistic talent for quilt making that would be the envy of many cultures worldwide. She relished giving these quilts to support her church outreach efforts and in teaching others this art. But her greatest gift, perhaps, was her spiritual strength and the unconditional love she gave so generously."

She was preceded in death by Harold and Carol Stephan; sisters, Lucille and Katherine; and her husband, Loren Sasseen.

Mrs. Sasseen is survived by her sisters, Joan Hammacher of Palmer and Jerene Nesbitt of Anchorage; brother, John Stephan of Seattle; daughters, Laura Sasseen of Palmer, Yvette Talbott of Maryland and Julie Churchill of Washington; and five grandchildren, Jerah, Nick, Nina, Elena and Ava.