Jane B. Musgrave

Jane B. Musgrave, loving and beloved wife of the late Rev. Frank Musgrave, died Tuesday, September 3, 2013 at Toledo Hospital. She was 92. Born on Aug. 5, 1921 in Lee, Mass., to Frank and Mildred Hecox Bastow, at a young age she set her sights on accomplishing far more than seemed possible for a Depression-era girl from a small mill town in the Berkshire Mountains. She graduated from Framingham State College near Boston with a degree in nutrition in 1943. After teaching in a small Vermont town, she moved to Baltimore where she advised 4-H Clubs and other farming interests for the Montgomery County Cooperative Extension Service while taking master degree classes at Johns Hopkins University. It was there she met and fell in love with fellow student, Frank Musgrave. They were married in 1948 and moved to Cambridge, Mass. where he attended seminary while she worked as a nutritionist for the Boston Visiting Nurse Service and a therapeutic dietitian at Massachusetts General Hospital. They moved to Toledo in 1952 when he was called to lead St. Matthews Episcopal Church. She never got that advanced degree, opting instead to embrace his passions while never abandoning her own. To those who knew them, they were the ultimate team. She supported him as he built the church and ministered to his flock. But she also pursued her own career and interests. She worked for decades as a nutritionist at the Toledo Health Department and the American Heart Association. A professional highlight were her years serving as president of both the Toledo and the Ohio dietetic associations. She helped establish the revered Women Infants and Children nutritional program in Toledo. She offered healthy eating tips on local TV shows, once inflaming the media with claims that a family could eat well on just a few dollars a week. She was right. She testified before Ohio legislative committees about the need to fight hunger and malnutrition. Her personnel file was filled with accolades, including one from the Toledo House of Correction for volunteering to review its menus to assure the prisoners were eating right. Her passion for helping people from all walks of life was consuming. She was one of the founders of the Toledo chapter of Mobile Meals. In addition to church activity, she was a member of several service clubs. She served as president of the local Pilot Club and a member of PEO. In recent years, she served meals to the homeless. When friends or even acquaintances were ill, she visited them, often bringing what she loved to call delicious and nutritious treats. She loved her family, including her daughters, Amy DuPuis, of Topeka, Ks., and Jane Musgrave, of West Palm Beach, Fl. But she was a mother to many more. In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her parents, a sister and a brother. She is survived by her daughters, five grandchildren, Heather Mike Sampson, Jonathan DuPuis, Matthew DuPuis and Adriane and Matthew Musgrave. She was the great-grandmother to Henry and David Sampson. An important part of her family was her beloved neighbors, Tracy and J.R. Hoppenjans and their three children, Andrew, Joey and Lauren. She will be interred at St. Matthews in a private service on Friday Sept. 13, 2013. A memorial service will be held at 11a.m. Saturday Sept. 14 at St. Michaels Episcopal Church in Ottawa Hills. In lieu of flowers, her family requests donations be made in her memory to Mobile Meals, 2200 Jefferson Ave, or Feed Your Neighbor, 3043 Monroe St., both in Toledo at 43606, or the charity of the givers choice. Arrangements by Walker Funeral Home. Online condolences may be made to the family at walkerfuneralhomes.com