Jayne Stebbins (1919-2008)

STEBBINS, HEMMINGSON, LAFFOON, LEE, LEHMAN, GFELLER, ATKINSON

Posted By: Ames Tribune
Date: 11/28/2008 at 10:02:06

THE AMES TRIBUNE, Ames, Story County, Iowa, Thursday, November 27, 2008.

Sept. 17, 1919-Nov. 22, 2008

Jayne Stebbins, 89, of Ames, died Saturday, Nov. 22, 2008, at Northcrest Community Health Center in Ames. A memorial service will be at 1 p.m. Monday, Dec. 1, at Northcrest.

Jayne was born Sept. 17, 1919, in Cambridge, the daughter of Elias and Anna Hemmingson. She grew up on a farm near Huxley, and graduated from White Oak High School in Cambridge and Waldorf Junior College in Forest City. She then received nurse's training at Lutheran Deaconess Hospital in Chicago.

She was married to Jean Laffoon, an Iowa State professor of entomology, from June 1946, until Mr. Laffoon's death in January 1973. She married Dean Stebbins, a physics professor and university administrator, in May 1974. Mr. Stebbins preceded her in death in July 2008. Also preceding her in death was her half-sister, Elizabeth Lee.

Survivors include her son, Lee Luther (Betty Wyckoff), of Cedar Falls; and three sisters, Frieda (Dean) Lehman, of Ames, Stella Gfeller, of Huxley, and Elsie (Dan) Atkinson, of Los Angeles, Calif.

Jayne had a lifelong connection to Iowa State University. She worked as a nurse for many years at the university's health care center and also served as a hostess at the dining room of the Memorial Union on the Iowa State campus. She was a Cyclone sports fan and had front row seats at basketball games in the Armory during the 1950s and '60s. In more recent years, she attended many Iowa State women's basketball games, always wearing her cardinal-and-gold coat to Hilton Coliseum. She was honored at the Plaza of Heroines in front of Catt Hall on the Iowa State campus.

She was a very social person with a charming smile and welcoming demeanor who enjoyed being around other people and hosting parties for family and friends. She was an excellent cook who loved to prepare new dishes and see her guests well fed, happy and entertained. Among her guests were a wide variety of people, such as foreign students at Iowa State who might be new to Ames and the university. Among her other hobbies were golf, gardening and flowers, bridge, and playing ping-pong.

Stevens Memorial Chapel in Ames is handling arrangements.

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