GLOUCESTER: Jane Jewett (MacFarland) Segar, 87, died Friday, April 6, 2012 in the Golden Living Center following a brief illness. She was the wife of the late Harold Vernon Segar, who died in July 1968.
Born in Newton on November 30, 1924, she was the daughter of the late Charles and Doris (Loring) MacFarland. After graduating from Belmont High School, she received her nursing degree from Simmons College in 1947 and her master’s degree in nursing from Northeastern University in 1960.
Jane had been a summer resident of Rust Island in Gloucester since the 1940s, and became a full-time resident in 1986.
Jane married Harold in October 1947 in New Zealand following his service in the New Zealand Royal Navy during World War II. They lived there in Dunedin until 1952 and then returned to live in Belmont. She was a nurse at McLean Hospital in the early 1950s and was then employed by the Town of Belmont as a school nurse – first at the elementary schools, and then at Belmont High School in the 1960s. She retired in 1986 as head nurse.
In Belmont she belonged to Eastern Star and was a parishioner of All Saints Episcopal Church. After moving to Gloucester, she and her mother Doris became parishioners of St. John’s Episcopal Church.
She was an avid gardener who would grow plants from seedlings in her basement under artificial lights during March, for planting in her gardens in May. From springtime through fall, she loved to spend her time outdoors in her yard on Rust Island, doing planting, weeding, and landscaping. She would make jams and jellies from her small grape vineyard, and also loved going clamming in the clam beds nearby to make chowder and steamers for her family. Close by would be her cocker spaniel Taffy, chasing sea gulls and swimming in the Annisquam River.
Jane was also a master quilter, and belonged to the Wakefield Arts & Crafts Society. Each summer during the 1990s she would sell many of her quilts at her booth at Village Fair Days in Ipswich, where she formed many lasting friendships with people who would stop by to admire them. She also gave many away as wedding and Christmas gifts for her family and friends, and as donations to the November fair at her church.
She loved animals and rescued many cats that had been abandoned. After spaying and neutering, she would see that they all got good homes.
She is survived by her two daughters and their husbands, Wanda and Douglas Roberts of Amherst and Sandra and David Chadwick of New Milford, Connecticut; and three grandchildren, Evan Bradley of Hamilton, Eliza Bradley of Northampton, and Rowan de la Barre of Amherst. She was also predeceased by her sister, Ruth Ann Jordan of Menlo Park, California and her brother, Frederick MacFarland of Gloucester.
Her memorial service will take place on Friday, May 11 at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 48 Middle Street, Gloucester at four p.m. Relatives and friends are cordially invited to attend. There are no visiting hours. In lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy may be made in her memory to the Cape Ann Animal Aid, 260 Main St., Gloucester, MA 01930.