Graveside services for family and friends will be held on Friday, December 6, 2024 beginning at 1:00 P.M. at Rose Hill Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Marshalltown. A time of refreshments and fellowship will be held at the Mitchell Family Funeral Home following the graveside services. In lieu of flowers, memorials in Jane’s name may be directed to her family for a later designation. For additional information or to send a condolence to the family, please visit www.mitchellfh.com or call 641-844-1234.

Mary Jane Stanley was born on August 19, 1944 in Marshalltown, Iowa. She was the youngest of five children born to Ralph and Gladys (Kelly) Stanley Sr. Jane grew up on the family farm south of Marshalltown and attended school at LDF. She was a graduate from LDF in the Class of 1962.

On January 11, 1964, she was united in marriage to John Hitchings at the Little Brown Church in Nashua, Iowa. They made their home together on John’s family farm just five miles away from her family farm south of Marshalltown. They raised three daughters, Leesa, Rita and Valerie. For a number of years Jane worked for Marshalltown Manufacturing. She later went back to school and attended cosmetology school and became a hairstylist for Regis Hairstyling in Marshalltown. After her retirement, she spent time doing volunteer work at the gift shop within the Marshalltown Hospital.

In her free time, she enjoyed spending time outdoors or inside with a good book. She often went vacationing with her husband John on their motorcycle. Over everything, she loved to spend time with her family and friends including her dogs and cats.

Those left to remember and cherish her memory are her husband, John Hitchings; her daughters, Leesa (Kurt) Terrillion of Altoona, IA, Rita (Troy) Barnes of Conrad, IA, and Valerie (Tony) Lucking of Salt Lake City, UT; her four grandchildren, Kayla, Stephanie, Jared and Travis; three great-grandchildren, Lydia, Brinlyn and Jett; and her brother, Ralph Stanley Jr.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Ralph Sr. and Gladys Stanley and her siblings, Elliott Stanley, Mildred Mayer and Dorcelle Trowbridge.