The Shadow
Jane LaFon Clarke Vance, age 78, died Saturday, January 15, 2011 at Clark Memorial Hospital.
She was born November 27, 1932 in Fredericksburg.
She was the third daughter to Porter Aaron Clarke, Jr. and Mary Elizabeth Lightner Clarke who were residents of Covington.
She attended Jeter Elementary School and graduated from Covington High School in 1949 and earned a post-graduate degree in 1950.
Following her graduation, she enrolled in Richmond Professional Institute of the College of William and Mary (RPI) in Richmond and transferred two years later with a scholarship to the University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY, where she graduated in 1954 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree.
She received highest honors at UK with an Outstanding Senior Award and was student manager of the University’s radio station. She also did post-graduate work at Indiana University Southeast in Jeffersonville, Indiana.
Her professional career included several positions with radio stations in Kentucky and southern Indiana.
Most were in Louisville, KY, where she worked at WHAS/AM and WAMZ/FM radio and was the national sales manager for those stations before her retirement in 1996.
Jane was also active in American Women in Radio and TV, a national organization with headquarters in Washington, DC.
After serving twice as president of the Louisville Chapter, she served as a national vice-president for two years in the mid 1980’s. She was also active with volunteer work in Louisville, KY, and served on the board of The Healing Place, a homeless shelter and drug and alcohol recovery center, run by the Medical Association of Louisville as an outreach program.
She was secretary of the board for over ten years and helped in writing a book published in 2009 about the shelter. The program has been replicated in many cities including Richmond. Jane joined her Covington High School schoolmates in 2001, helping organize their yearly reunions for the classes of 1949, 1950 & 1951.
She was preceded in death by her parents and her sister, Elizabeth “Betty” Clarke and will be buried beside them in the family plot in Cedar Hill Cemetery.
Baptized in the First Presbyterian Church in Covington, she grew up in that church and was a lifelong Christian.
For many years prior to her death, she was a member of the Eastside Christian Church in Clarksville, IN.
Her survivors include her friend and former husband, Van T. Vance, Sr., and son, Van Talmadge Vance, Jr. and his wife, Terri, all of Clarksville, IN. She is also survived by her sister, Nancy Clarke Fisher and husband, LeRoy of Greensboro, NC and many nieces and nephews.
A graveside memorial service will be conducted at 10:00 A.M. Tuesday, April 5, 2011, at Cedar Hill Cemetery with the Rev. Jamie B. Pharr officiating.
Those wishing to attend the service should assemble at Cedar Hill Cemetery by 9:45 A.M.
The family suggests that memorial tributes take the form of contributions to the Healing Place Women’s and Childrens Center, 1503 South 15h Street, Louisville, KY.
Those wishing to send condolences online, please visit www.lovingfuneralhome1913.com.
