Jane Nolan

Jane Anne Nolan of Denver, Colorado, died peacefully at home on March 3, 2021, at the age of 95.  Born in 1925 in Dubuque, Iowa, she was part of “The Greatest Generation,” facing the challenges of the Great Depression and World War II, then building a life and family guided by faith, love, strength and humor.  Her mother died when Jane was only four years old, and she and her two sisters were reared by her father and her loving “Auntie,” Agnes Poledna.

Jane received her Bachelor’s degree in dietetics at the College of St. Benedict in Minnesota, a school so dear to her heart that decades later one of her granddaughters attended the same college.  Jane subsequently worked as a dietician in Chicago, then returned to Dubuque where she met her husband, James Nolan.  The two soon married and eventually moved to Colorado.  They found joy in focusing on their seven children, each person in the family growing and changing as the City of Denver grew and changed with them.  She was active in Notre Dame Catholic Parish and School, Mullen High School and St. Anthony’s Montessori School.  She devoted her seemingly endless energy to her family, including delivering paper routes with them for almost twenty years, packing early-morning school lunches and typing late-night term papers.  She always found time to toss in a tap dance or reel off a poem for her children’s entertainment.  Deeply faithful, she followed the teachings of the Catholic Church, and at the same time challenged herself and her children to think critically and apply those teachings to the personal and social issues facing them through the years.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Arnold and Bernadine Lynch, her sisters Mary Agnes Utzig and Bonnie Marie O’Brien, her husband James, her son James, and her granddaughters Deira Lewis and Bailie Nolan.  She is survived by her children, Tom, Mike, Tim, Mary Jo, Paul and Patrick, and her grandchildren, Keely, Marissa, Ryan, Sam, Bethany, Nazaret, Sydney, Quinn and Cassidy.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated at Notre Dame Catholic Church, 2190 South Sheridan Boulevard, Denver, Colorado, on Saturday, March 13, 2021, at 12:00 PM.  She will be buried at Mt. Olivet Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to Haven of Hope homeless shelter, 1101 West 7th Avenue, Denver, Colorado  80204. https://thoh.org/