Jane McElwee Decker, 79, of Holden Beach, NC died after a two year battle fighting ovarian cancer on August 13, 2019.

Born in Ithaca, NY on July 8, 1940 she was the loving wife of Thomas B. Decker for 57 years who passed away on November 11, 2015 and the daughter of the late Andrew and Barbara McElwee.

She attended Fall Creek Elementary School, graduated from Ithaca High School, earned a BS in Elementary Education from The Ohio State University, a M.ED. in Administration from Ashland College and a M.A. in Counseling from North Carolina Central University.

Jane’s passion was helping children. She was an elementary school teacher for 14 years at the Columbus Academy in Ohio. She was both a counselor and the Headmaster at Hale High School in Raleigh, NC and counselor for ten years for the Wake County Public School system.

She formerly lived in Ithaca, NY; Hamburg, NY; Detroit, MI; Canal Winchester, OH; Westerville, OH; Raleigh, NC and retired at Holden Beach.

Jane was recognized by the Greater Federation of Women’s Club for her work serving the area youth, she was the club education community service program chairman and a guardian ad litem for Brunswick County. She and Tom assisted weekly with food distribution for the Wings Ministry backpack program for area schools and worked annually on Thanksgiving baskets. She enjoyed spending time with family and friends, playing bridge and reading.

Surviving are her four sons and their families: T.D. (Rozzie) Decker of Wayne, IL; Tom (Lee) Decker of Winston-Salem, NC; Tim (Kelly) Decker of Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Todd (Laura) Decker of Birmingham, AL. She has 12 grandchildren including Bobbie, Maggie, Tommy, Ty, Drew, Katherine, Tory, Nicole, Dani, Caroline, John and Will Decker. Her siblings are William McElwee, Andrea McElwee, Katherine McElwee and Marty McElwee.

A Celebration of Life will be conducted on Saturday, August 17, 2019, 4:30 pm in the Holden Beach Chapel where she was an active member.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the Holden Beach Chapel, 107 Rothschild St, Holden Beach, NC 28462 and Lower Cape Fear Hospice, 1414 Physicians Drive, Wilmington, NC 28401.