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Jane (James) Colford
April 18, 2017 Light a Candle
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Message from Jann Dobkin Rudd
August 11, 2018 10:49 PM
I grew up on 32nd Street and Janie was one of my first friends. I was so sad to hear of her passing and while it’s been a very long time since we saw each other, I wanted to express my sincere condolences to her family.
All these years later, I still have wonderful memories of her, her siblings, her grandparents, and of course Betty and Joe.
Sincerely,
Jann Dobkin
All these years later, I still have wonderful memories of her, her siblings, her grandparents, and of course Betty and Joe.
Sincerely,
Jann Dobkin
Message from Joseph E. Colford
April 22, 2017 8:14 PM
Jane’s Eulogy
Good morning . . . I am Joe Colford III, brother to Paul and brother-in-law to Jane.
Thank you all for being here. I know that Paul and Liam and Catherine have felt the warm hug of the love and the prayers coming from you all.
We are pleased today to have our friend, Father Jim Keenan, celebrating today’s Mass for Jane. Fr. Keenan is the former president of St. Peter’s Prep in Jersey City, our alma mater, and he now is the Director of Advancement for the Jesuits of the New York Province. We are also pleased that Maureen Francis is here to lead us in song.
A thank you also to our St. Helen’s host, Father Gabriel Curtis, who helped Paul arrange this Mass these last few days.
I was honored when Paul asked me to deliver the eulogy today for his soul mate Jane.
As a nod to Paul, the classical scholar in our family, I wanted to note that the word “eulogy” is a combination of two Greek words, eu and logos, which basically mean “to speak well” or “to praise.”
I didn’t have to look very far to find the words today to sing the praises of Jane James Colford.
I sing her praises in many ways:
• For putting up with Paul for most, if not all, of their 34 years of marriage; sainthood must be just around the corner
• For accepting the fact years ago that Paul had little understanding of the literary work we know as the short story . . . the saga was his medium
• For her own detailed story-telling which always painted a picture so vivid that we all felt as if we also were there
• For pulling Paul back off the precipice during his several years of the “Squirrel Invasions” of their Roselle Park home
• For giving me yet another reason to consider the Park Tavern at the corner
of Communipaw and West Side Avenues in Jersey City to be the best Irish
tavern ever . . . Paul and Jane first met there, and the rest is history
After several unsuccessful overtures of romance on Paul’s part spanning the better part of a year, Jane finally agreed to a date and eventually to be his wife. The oldest daughter of eight children of Joe and Betty James, Jane was to wed Paul, the fourth of Joe and Catherine Colford’s eight. “Lucky eights” it was. They would have celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary this June.
Catherine and Liam were to follow, the “Rock to their roll,” as her friend Ellen Condon described them, or the “gifts” Paul has said Jane has given him.
Jane was the consummate teacher. Hours upon hours beyond school hours attest to her devotion and to her commitment to the children entrusted to her. Getting home from school well after all the traffic lights in town came on speak to this commitment. Paul tells me that their Chestnut Street garage still contains mountains of Jane-created lesson plans and classroom materials that she used regularly.
She dispatched Paul late one Sunday night to the local Shop Rite to pick up two limes for her. The incredulous Paul wondered what the late-night need was. Apparently Jane only had two lemons on hand, and the addition of these limes surely would make the next day’s Math lesson that much more compelling for her students. So off Paul went for the limes.
Besides her family, Jane loved the sanctity and privacy of her backyard, her powder blue convertible Volkswagen Bug, the Jersey Shore, especially the Breakers in Spring Lake, the perfect shop for that perfect gift, and her circle of friends from wide and far.
When cancer came calling, this tough girl from Bayonne faced it head-on.
The Greek word for “crisis” is “krinein,” meaning “to decide,” a turning point or a moment of reckoning. Jane decided that she would not go quietly with a cancer diagnosis, her own crisis, but that she would give it all she had. She stared down the disease by never missing an appointment for treatment at Sloan Kettering. Snowstorms may cancel school for a day or two, but chemo treatments take no such breaks, nor did Jane.
She organized her “Teal Gardeners” for the annual walk through Avon and Belmar to raise money for ovarian cancer research, and she fell back upon her strong faith to engage the Almighty in her battle: the rosary, healing masses, the hope for a miracle, and prayer, always prayer.
Her sense of humor never faltered and seemed to have sustained her through these last four tough years.
At the gathering after a healing mass she attended, Jane was very concerned that they served submarine sandwiches. “Chemo patients with mouth sores cannot eat submarine sandwiches” is what she said she wanted to tell the host. Or, more likely, she probably did tell the host! So this consummate teacher even had a lesson on hand for the parish.
Last 4th of July she and Paul moved into their friends, the Condon’s, vacated shore home for the weekend. After a few hours at the beach they returned to the house, only to find themselves locked out. Someone, probably Paul, left the keys on the kitchen counter. When she called the homeowners who were 500 miles away at the time and told them of her dilemma, she heard the suggestion that perhaps they should pry open a window and enter that way. “Don’t you know that a woman with cancer can’t climb through a
window,” was her reply.
However, I dare say that, even in the best of health, I can’t imagine Jane ever climbing through any window.
In the worst of days, Jane’s sense of style made her look as if she were in the best of days. It helped her to keep hope alive, to keep the spirits up for herself, her family, and her friends, and to keep pity at bay. You see, Jane wanted prayers but never pity.
So as Paul, Catherine, and Liam all move on, let us pray at Mass today, perhaps not for miracles, but for strength and for guidance for them. Jane’s love is forever embedded in their souls, and it will always be with them. The love and support from everyone else whose lives Jane touched are here now and for many years to come.
We love you, Paul, and your “gifts,” Catherine and Liam.
Good morning . . . I am Joe Colford III, brother to Paul and brother-in-law to Jane.
Thank you all for being here. I know that Paul and Liam and Catherine have felt the warm hug of the love and the prayers coming from you all.
We are pleased today to have our friend, Father Jim Keenan, celebrating today’s Mass for Jane. Fr. Keenan is the former president of St. Peter’s Prep in Jersey City, our alma mater, and he now is the Director of Advancement for the Jesuits of the New York Province. We are also pleased that Maureen Francis is here to lead us in song.
A thank you also to our St. Helen’s host, Father Gabriel Curtis, who helped Paul arrange this Mass these last few days.
I was honored when Paul asked me to deliver the eulogy today for his soul mate Jane.
As a nod to Paul, the classical scholar in our family, I wanted to note that the word “eulogy” is a combination of two Greek words, eu and logos, which basically mean “to speak well” or “to praise.”
I didn’t have to look very far to find the words today to sing the praises of Jane James Colford.
I sing her praises in many ways:
• For putting up with Paul for most, if not all, of their 34 years of marriage; sainthood must be just around the corner
• For accepting the fact years ago that Paul had little understanding of the literary work we know as the short story . . . the saga was his medium
• For her own detailed story-telling which always painted a picture so vivid that we all felt as if we also were there
• For pulling Paul back off the precipice during his several years of the “Squirrel Invasions” of their Roselle Park home
• For giving me yet another reason to consider the Park Tavern at the corner
of Communipaw and West Side Avenues in Jersey City to be the best Irish
tavern ever . . . Paul and Jane first met there, and the rest is history
After several unsuccessful overtures of romance on Paul’s part spanning the better part of a year, Jane finally agreed to a date and eventually to be his wife. The oldest daughter of eight children of Joe and Betty James, Jane was to wed Paul, the fourth of Joe and Catherine Colford’s eight. “Lucky eights” it was. They would have celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary this June.
Catherine and Liam were to follow, the “Rock to their roll,” as her friend Ellen Condon described them, or the “gifts” Paul has said Jane has given him.
Jane was the consummate teacher. Hours upon hours beyond school hours attest to her devotion and to her commitment to the children entrusted to her. Getting home from school well after all the traffic lights in town came on speak to this commitment. Paul tells me that their Chestnut Street garage still contains mountains of Jane-created lesson plans and classroom materials that she used regularly.
She dispatched Paul late one Sunday night to the local Shop Rite to pick up two limes for her. The incredulous Paul wondered what the late-night need was. Apparently Jane only had two lemons on hand, and the addition of these limes surely would make the next day’s Math lesson that much more compelling for her students. So off Paul went for the limes.
Besides her family, Jane loved the sanctity and privacy of her backyard, her powder blue convertible Volkswagen Bug, the Jersey Shore, especially the Breakers in Spring Lake, the perfect shop for that perfect gift, and her circle of friends from wide and far.
When cancer came calling, this tough girl from Bayonne faced it head-on.
The Greek word for “crisis” is “krinein,” meaning “to decide,” a turning point or a moment of reckoning. Jane decided that she would not go quietly with a cancer diagnosis, her own crisis, but that she would give it all she had. She stared down the disease by never missing an appointment for treatment at Sloan Kettering. Snowstorms may cancel school for a day or two, but chemo treatments take no such breaks, nor did Jane.
She organized her “Teal Gardeners” for the annual walk through Avon and Belmar to raise money for ovarian cancer research, and she fell back upon her strong faith to engage the Almighty in her battle: the rosary, healing masses, the hope for a miracle, and prayer, always prayer.
Her sense of humor never faltered and seemed to have sustained her through these last four tough years.
At the gathering after a healing mass she attended, Jane was very concerned that they served submarine sandwiches. “Chemo patients with mouth sores cannot eat submarine sandwiches” is what she said she wanted to tell the host. Or, more likely, she probably did tell the host! So this consummate teacher even had a lesson on hand for the parish.
Last 4th of July she and Paul moved into their friends, the Condon’s, vacated shore home for the weekend. After a few hours at the beach they returned to the house, only to find themselves locked out. Someone, probably Paul, left the keys on the kitchen counter. When she called the homeowners who were 500 miles away at the time and told them of her dilemma, she heard the suggestion that perhaps they should pry open a window and enter that way. “Don’t you know that a woman with cancer can’t climb through a
window,” was her reply.
However, I dare say that, even in the best of health, I can’t imagine Jane ever climbing through any window.
In the worst of days, Jane’s sense of style made her look as if she were in the best of days. It helped her to keep hope alive, to keep the spirits up for herself, her family, and her friends, and to keep pity at bay. You see, Jane wanted prayers but never pity.
So as Paul, Catherine, and Liam all move on, let us pray at Mass today, perhaps not for miracles, but for strength and for guidance for them. Jane’s love is forever embedded in their souls, and it will always be with them. The love and support from everyone else whose lives Jane touched are here now and for many years to come.
We love you, Paul, and your “gifts,” Catherine and Liam.
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