With her family lovingly gathered around, Jane Gilbert Wertz peacefully passed away on March 26, 2017. She was loved by her family and admired by her friends. She was the spouse of the late Vance Grazier Wertz (1908-1984); daughter of the late Richard Henry Gilbert (1885-1947) and Missoura May Wolfgang Gilbert (1885-1966), and sister of the late Julia Gilbert Ling. She is survived by her two sets of twin children, Jane Wertz Calhoun and Vance (Jack) Wertz and Dana Wertz Robbat and Richard Gilbert Wertz and their spouses; and grandchildren Jane Calhoun Hans, Marcus Calhoun, William Calhoun, Ann Calhoun Bednash, Sundara Wertz, Shanti Wertz, David Wertz, Sarah Robbat Primavera, and Elizabeth Robbat Kelly and their families including seven (7) great-grandchildren; and her niece Tracy Ling Owen and family. Jane's life spanned a century and her stories did justice to its unfolding and her experiences. told with delight, humor, and attention to subtle details, they enchanted those who she had known for a lifetime and those most recently met. She was born August 4, 1914 in the Borough of Tyrone, a small industrial center in central Pennsylvania on the Little Juniata River. Her grandfather, Richard Henry Gilbert, was a circuit riding Methodist Minister who started his family in Tyrone. Half believing, Jane told his story of leaving Cornwall, England as a fourteen-year-old stow away on a trading ship departing Wales bound for China. On the voyage Rev Gilbert found God and pledged to lead a God-fearing, virtuous life, a tale told in Adventures of a Runaway . While delivering sermons, his piercing black eyes often found her in the pews, as a ready example. Jane sang in the choir and learned to practice charity towards others. Her grandfather's 19th century standards of unwavering virtue, as published in a book and an article, Black and White, were to be admired if not always followed by this thoroughly 20th Century woman. Her father, also named Richard Henry Gilbert, attended Syracuse University where he played quarterback, weighing in at 125-pounds. At the dawn of the automobile age Jane enjoyed weekend drives with her father on newly improved roads through Pennsylvania's rolling ridges and valleys to Syracuse, where her father would be asked to give pep talks to the ballplayers and boxers. Jane always loved mountain drives in her convertible and thrilled her grandchildren by taking fast rolling turns on serpentine country roads. And she learned about comradery and loyalty when she and her father would spend the night with a fraternity brother on their return home. Later when Jane attended Syracuse, she pledged Kappa Kappa Gamma and sustained an allegiance for her sorority throughout her life. Richard married Missoura May Wolfgang after meeting her at a church picnic, where he impressed her by breaking his leg playing baseball, in her hometown of Ashland, PA. Missoura was a graduate of Bucknell University, where she majored in elocution. In her later years, Jane would spell-out words to listeners, to be sure they understood her. The Gilberts built a bungalow on a hilltop overlooking Tyrone, raised Jane and her sister Julia, ten years Jane's junior, and settled into the life of Tyrone. Later the family purchased a farm to promote the stock of Guernsey cows in the area. Jane adored the farm, joined the 4H, studied advances in animal husbandry, and happily won ribbons. She always would have fond feelings for Guernsey cows and credited milk for her good health and long life. The bookshelves in the Gilbert household included Don Quixote, Treasure Island, and Shakespeare while sharing space with the Bible and companion volumes of explanation and illustration, which she long remembered. Emerson was a special favorite. Busts of Dante and Longfellow set a tone. Jane enjoyed playing the piano, occasionally playing lightheartedly during the later years of her life. Richard opened a law practice and later was elected county district attorney. Always raised to be an example, being a daughter of the district attorney was a responsibility for Jane. Driving to the farm one night, just prior to an election, with her future husband Vance Grazier Wertz she recalled feeling the weight of the devil on her shoulders at each lamp post where she saw her father's serious smile on a campaign poster, "His Record is Your Guarantee for Honest and Efficient Service." Later, in the final years of prohibition, she and her friends found themselves at a speak-easy and left without incident. Upon returning home to Tyrone, she learned that her father had organized a raid there for the same night. Jane attended prep-school near the charming town of Lexington, Virginia, home to the Virginia Military Academy and Washington and Lee University. Throughout her life, Jane enjoyed describing down to the smallest detail the "elegant" dresses worn to teas and cotillions. Her heart lay further south, however, at the University of North Carolina, where Vance was a student. After prep school, she attended Syracuse where she was interested in sociology. Jane happily told her story about her study of ant colonies. Richard, however, felt that Jane would be best served as a teacher, which she later became. Jane's years at Syracuse centered around Greek life. She loved telling the story of a date with a handsome young fraternity man who played "Stardust" on the piano so beautifully and with such charm that her knees nearly buckled. Jane was a romantic who, nonetheless, understood the importance of practical living. When Jane and Vance graduated college during the Great Depression little work was available. Vance polished his tennis and golf games and his hunting rifle too. Richard Gilbert referred to him as a "Lounge Lizard" and prospects for marriage looked dim until Vance's enlistment in the army after Pearl Harbor. After a thirteen-year courtship, she married the love of her life at the Gilbert house on November 19, 1942 when Vance returned to Tyrone on leave. Jane bought a used car and with a hope and a prayer they drove to his base in Mississippi where Vance continued his training. He shipped out of Boston in 1944 with Jane waving goodbye, fought in the Battles of the Bulge and Remagen, and returned to America at the of the war as Captain Vance Wertz. Post war life was a whirlwind. Jane had two sets of twins (1947 and 1950) and the family moved from Tyrone, to Cochranton, to Erie and finally to Collegeville PA in 1957 where they lived until their retirement in 1977. Jane was a high school teacher and Vance an executive and board member at Provident Indemnity. Cocktail parties, cigarettes, and cheese spreads were de rigueur. Jane loved the activity and challenges of raising four children born three years apart. She and Vance, each with two children in their arms or simultaneously bottle feeding them would look across the room at one another in amused disbelief. The contents of a pressure cooker clung to the ceiling for years. Her imagination never failed, every item had multiple purposes. A shoe box had nine lives. Children were expected to be as mischievous as she; Jane was up to staying a stride ahead. Conversations began without an introduction. Family car trips in classic station wagons to drive-on-theatres, children dressed in their pajamas, were memorable. When asked about the period Jane recalled feeding children in the kitchen as the family's first television was installed and hearing the magic of an elephant's trumpet call. She had waited though Depression and War for such moments and now savored them. At retirement, Jane and Vance moved to Harwich Port MA to be closer to children. Jane easily found community with neighbors, the Questers, Kappa's, the First Congregational Church, her college friend, Polly Cary and old friends from Erie. Vance often played golf. Children and grandchildren were frequent guests at their home and at the Wychmere Harbor Club where they frolicked in the waters of Nantucket Sound and swam in the pool. Jane delighted in telling the story of arriving at Wychmere one evening and finding a dance floor, two bandstands, and a full orchestra playing her favorite dance numbers. After Vance's death in 1984, Jane continued to lead a full life in Harwich Port until 2000 when she moved to the Timothy Wheeler House in Concord Center which for 15 years provided a happy community and loving home. Her last months were spent with compassionate care and support at Rivercrest in Concord. Her years in Concord were highlighted by daily walks to the Center, workouts at Beede Center, worship and small group meetings at the Trinitarian Congregational Church, PEO events, and extensive time with her family. She witnessed college graduations, marriages of her grandchildren and the birth of great-grandchildren. She celebrated her 100th birthday with her family telling stories, holding great-grandchildren and in high ceremonial fashion with a cigarette elegantly held in one hand, a Manhattan cocktail in the other. In a word, Jane was a charming lady from a time long ago but always with and of the moment. She was sophisticated, beautiful, elegant, witty, respectful of and respected by one and all. Godspeed Jane Gilbert Wertz. A Memorial Service will be held on Friday, April 28 at 10 AM at the Trinitarian Congregational Church, 54 Walden Street, Concord MA. Gifts in lieu of flowers may be directed to the Trinitarian Congregational Church, Concord.