Jane Marie (Mayer) Sears
March 12, 1941 – September 22, 2025

On the evening of September 22, 2025, with her family gathered near, Jane Marie Sears was gently called home to the Lord after a valiant battle with Alzheimer's disease. She was 84 years old.

Jane was born on March 12, 1941, in Hamilton, Montana, to Eva (Kohler) and Wilhelm Mayer. The youngest of fourteen children, she was raised in the beauty of the Bitterroot Valley, carrying with her all her life the quiet strength of the mountains and the steadfast compassion of her parents' example. After graduating from high school, Jane joined the United States Army with the singular goal of becoming a nurse answering a calling that would define her life.

It was at Fort Carson in Colorado that she met a young soldier named Vincent Sears. In a story her family still smiles to recall, Jane was technically his superior when they met. They were married for more than fifty years, their lifelong partnership rooted in devotion, faith, and family. Together they raised five children and built a family that became Jane's greatest joy. Vincent preceded her in death in 2014.

Jane's nursing career spanned more than fifty years, most of them caring for veterans at the Detroit Veterans Administration Hospital. In the early 1980s, when the first patients with what would later be known as HIV/AIDS arrived, fear kept many away. Jane stayed. This was before the advent of universal precautions, when nurses, Jane among them, would often come home with blood-soaked fingers. She met this uncertain and frightening chapter with courage and compassion, tending to the sick with dignity when few others would.

At home, Jane found peace in her gardens. She knew how to coax color from the soil, how to plant things in just the right place, and how to teach her children and grandchildren to care for the earth and the seasons. She was the family's horticulturalist, always ready with gentle guidance on what to plant and how to get the brightest blooms.

Though introverted and understated by nature, Jane's Catholic faith was a cornerstone of her life. Before her illness, she attended Sunday Mass faithfully, drawing strength from ritual and prayer. Even as Alzheimer's slowly dimmed her memory in the last few years of her life, the essence of who she was remained unshaken. Her identity as a nurse, her service as a veteran, and her love for family never left her.

Her legacy is carried on by her five children:

·         Joseph V. Sears

·         Michael D. Sears and his wife, Diana (née Ronchetto). Their children:

o    Karissa Sears O'Neill and her husband, Sean O'Neill, with their children Bannon, Avery, Cameron, and Rylie.

o    Michael Ryan Sears and his wife, Heidi (née Wiczynski).

o    Anthony Ronchetto

o    Brandon Ronchetto

o    Dominic Ronchetto

·         Melissa J. Sears, with her children Emory Sears and Spencer Sears.

·         Jeff Sears and his husband, Joern Howind.

·         Jennifer Sears, with her children:

o    Mia Sears

o    Katelynne Shanaver, and her children Clayton, Dallas, Braxton, Nevaeh, Natalee, and Lukas.

o    Steven Robertson and his wife, Savannah (née Taylor).

In all, Jane's love touched five children, ten grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren. Each life carries forward a piece of her steady devotion and quiet grace.

Jane will be remembered not for seeking the spotlight, but for her gentle presence, her strong hands, and the way she lived her faith in small, steadfast acts of love. She was the gardener of both soil and soul nurturing life wherever she went.

Her compassion touched countless patients across more than fifty years at the bedside. Over the course of her career, she worked in pediatrics, critical care, and, in her later years before retirement, gerontological nursing, caring for patients living with Alzheimer's disease. The same illness she would one day face offering the same dignity, patience, and tenderness she gave to every life entrusted to her.

She joins her husband, Vincent, and twelve of her siblings in the Lord's eternal embrace.

Calling hours will be held at Howe Peterson Funeral Home, 9800 Telegraph Road in Taylor, MI., on Thursday, September 25 from 2 p.m. – 8 p.m. A Catholic Mass of Christian Burial will be held Friday, September 26, in-state 9:30, Mass 10:00 AM at St. Maria Goretti, 3965 Merrick St, Dearborn Hts., MI 48125. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Heart to Heart Hospice Foundation, www.htohhfoundation.org, or to The Arbor Day Foundation, www.arborday.org, honoring Jane's passion for gardening and her lifelong devotion to caring for others.