HARNDEN Jane Ellen (Amstutz) "The Quilt Lady", June 7,1934-May 23, 2001. Mrs. Harnden was an Edmond, Oklahoma resident of nearly thirty years. The Lord blessed Jane with an incredible richness and diversity of life in service to the Christian Church, her community, and her family. Through her life, the Lord blessed us all. Christian Church Life: Jane's life centered on her church. Her mother often recalled times when five year-old Jane rushed around the house making sure that her parents were going to get her to church on time! As a life-long member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), she blessed nine congregations as pianist and/or organist during her 50 years of service. In addition to innumerable lay leadership roles, Jane served as the Regional Moderator (chief lay-leader) of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) for Oklahoma from 1996 1998, and as the President of the Oklahoma Christian Women's Fellowship from 1994-1996. Jane's Christian leadership was not confined to adult groups. From 1974-1980 she directed the "New Creation," a touring Christian youth choir, whose alumni number over 100. Their concert tours spanned Canada to Mexico, and New York to Hawaii. Community Service Life, including Quilting and Oklahoma Heritage: Jane served on the Board of Directors for Mother to Mother Ministry in Oklahoma County, the Edmond Historical Society, the Central Oklahoma Quilter's Guild, and was a member of the National Quilting Association. As part of her volunteer work she frequently gave programs for various groups. "Life in a Sod House," was the dramatic monologue of imaginary Oklahoma pioneer housewife Emma Craig, describing life in a sod house shortly after the Oklahoma Land Run of 1889. "Stories Told by Quilts" shared with others her philosophy, as she put it, that "[e]very quilt tells a story. Quilts are my way of sharing history." A third program, "Through the Century" used 200 common household items and representative music of the twentieth century to take her audience on a journey through each decade of the last century, highlighting the people, inventions and events that affected the lives of Oklahomans and people across the United States. Mrs. Harnden loved the sparkle in children's eyes when she spoke in schools and they began to grasp the new concept of seeing important stories from their individual families being passed on. Also she strove to teach adults that they too have a story which they need to preserve and pass on. Men, though at first dubious of her topic, turned out to be the most affirming perhaps, she said, because they rarely hear programs about relationships and family. One man said: "You massaged my heart today." Jane Harnden shared her quilts and gifted storytelling to bring Oklahoma history to dramatic life. She urged every listener to heed more closely the joy and meaning of their own stories, and to enlarge their circle of love. Jane began quilting in 1975, after attending a quilting show with her daughter on a lazy Sunday afternoon. She remembered that her mother quilted and decided to try to make a bicentennial quilt to commemorate her daughter's graduation from high school in 1976. That quilt went on to be named best of show at the Oklahoma State Fair. She then set herself a task of preserving her family's history through her "story quilts." In the past twenty-five years, Jane produced over 80 quilts, many of which have won state and national awards, and have been selected for publication in quilt calendars and periodicals. In an effort to preserve the history of quilts in Oklahoma and the history of Oklahoma as it is recorded in quilts, Jane served as state coordinator of the Oklahoma Quilt Heritage Project that registered over 4,000 quilts which were brought to or made in Oklahoma prior to 1940. She co-authored a book titled "Oklahoma Heritage Quilts" that describes this four year endeavor to record Oklahoma's unique history through quilt artifacts. This book and a videotaped retrospective on Jane's life can be found at the Oklahoma Historical Society. Jane's interest in family history led her to research the genealogy of the Amstutz and the Harnden families back to the 17th century. She produced several booklets documenting this research which have been distributed among her extended family. Family Life: She was a descendent of families who settled in Oklahoma Territory before statehood. Jane Harnden was the only child of Dillman Ray Amstutz and Esther (Moore) Amstutz Rhodes, both of whom preceded her in death. It was said of Dillman that "his character was the same on Monday as it was on Sunday;" the same could be said of his daughter, Jane. After graduating from Geary High School in 1952, she attend college at Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State University), from which she graduated with honors in 1955 with a Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in home economics. She taught home economics at Prague, Oklahoma during the 1955-1956 school year, and married Lloyd Wayne Harnden of Stillwater on June 2, 1956. She then "retired" to provide domestic support for Lloyd and to begin raising a family. In the course of Lloyd's 32-year career with Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. and AT&T, they lived in Oklahoma City, Chickasha, Tulsa, Manchester, Missouri, and in Edmond. Jane is survived by her husband, 4 children, and 5 grandchildren: Dianne Harnden Overby (Eric), Jason and Jennifer of Bountiful, Utah; Laurie Harnden Matthews (Anthony), Nicholas and Samuel of Tahlequah, Oklahoma; David Harnden (Sidney Custar) of Oklahoma City; and Robert Harnden (Virginia Dean), and Sarah of Redondo Beach, California. Memorial Services: Jane was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1997, and addressed this disease as she had tackled every other aspect of life; without complaint or self-pity, and always with boundless enthusiasm and energy. To the last, she was always thinking of others. Please join her family and friends in a celebration of Jane's life, death, and resurrection. The memorial service will be held at First Christian Church of Edmond, 2nd Street at Boulevard, on Friday, May 25, 2001 at 1:00 p.m. There will be no viewing; interment of ashes will be performed at the family farm at a later date. Funeral arrangements are being coordinated by Matthews Funeral Home, Edmond. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, contributions be sent to Southern Hills Christian Church, 3207 S. Boulevard, Edmond, OK 73034.

Daily Oklahoman, The (Oklahoma City, OK) - Thursday, May 24, 2001