Jane McMullin, 72, of Naperville, Illinois, passed away Wednesday, January 17, 2024. Jane was a fun-loving, caring, awesome friend to all. She was a lover of travel, politics, ballroom dancing, and chocolate desserts.
Jane was born in Batesville, Arkansas, on August 5, 1951, to Earlene Meachum McMullin and J.E. McMullin. She graduated from Batesville High School in 1969 and earned both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. After graduation, she worked as a recreational therapist for the USO and the American Red Cross, and for a short time, was the director of a USO center in Okinawa, Japan. In 1978 Jane moved to DeWitt, Arkansas, and opened Jane’s Gym where she taught exercise classes and gymnastics. The connections she developed with the DeWitt community and the friends she made there lasted the rest of her life.
In the mid-1990’s Jane moved to Pine Bluff, Arkansas, to become the Director of Fitness at Trinity Village Retirement Community, a position she held until her retirement in 2017. In Pine Bluff, she found another loving family of wonderful and supportive friends. After a lifetime of being cold, Jane retired to Scottsdale, Arizona in 2018. She loved her life there, but in 2021, moved to be closer to her sister, Annette Smith in Naperville, Illinois.
Jane was a dedicated volunteer serving on both the Arkansas Youth Council and the Arkansas Governor’s Council on Fitness and was a docent at the Clinton Library. She was a lifelong Democrat and worked on the Presidential campaigns of both Bill and Hillary Clinton, as well as the campaigns of numerous local and statewide candidates. She continued her volunteerism in her retirement at the Museum of the West and the Ambassadors of Old Town in Scottsdale, AZ.
Although she loved visiting other places, Arkansas was her home. She was a supporter of all things Arkansas and was always ready to talk to anyone about the state’s virtues and to show visitors around.
A celebration of her life will be held at a later date.
Memorials can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association at act.alz.org or to the Old Independence Regional Museum, 380 S. 9th Street, Batesville, AR 72501.
