Jane Clewell Campbell Graham was born at home in Holly Oak, Delaware on September 11, 1926, the daughter of Frederic H. and Mabel Clewell Campbell. She grew up in the shadow of the Great Depression and saw high school classmates go off to war. She was 17 when her beloved older brother, James, passed away, leaving her "an only child". She started working at 18, married at 21 and had 5 children within the decade. 

At Claymont High School she served on the student council, as a cheerleader and the Senior Year May Queen. Immediately upon graduation she was employed by the American Viscose Company where she worked for 7 years in Wilmington and Philadelphia. She was a Girl Scout leader and a lifetime member of that organization.  While baptized in Central Moravian Church in Bethlehem, PA, she was an active member of several Methodist congregations.

 In 1948 she married Allen Graham of Memphis, Tennessee, where they moved several years later. While raising 5 children at home she took evening courses to earn a Bachelor's and Master's degrees in education from Memphis State University and subsequently taught at Snowden Junior High for over 23 years. In her spare time, she joined a sorority and a bowling league. Summer vacations consisted of trips back to Delaware, tent camping along the way. 

After retirement she followed her dream of a small "non-touristy" town on the beach and she and her husband moved to Tybee Island, Georgia. For 27 years she hosted family and friends in her classic Tybee cottage, volunteered at the Tybee Island Lighthouse and served on the board of the Historical Society, was a regular volunteer at the Methodist church and during the 1996 Summer Olympics. In later years she moved to Portsmouth, Virginia to be closer to her daughter, Jane.     

Mrs. Graham passed away peacefully this Spring, 5 months shy of her 100th birthday. In early May she came "home". Following a gathering at Gebhart Funeral Home in Claymont, family members visited her high school and the house where she was born in Holly Oak, and finally to Gracelawn Memorial Park where Jane and her eldest son were laid to rest in the family plot. Preceded in death by her husband, Allen, her son, Allen W. junior, and daughter-in-law, Dawn Crosby Graham, Jane is survived, loved and will always be remembered by her daughter, Jane Campbell, sons James, Steven and Chester and grandsons David and Jeremy. 

"She loved her family, teaching school and the color blue". 

To offer condolences, please visit:

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302-798-7726