ST. PAUL — Jane Anne Beachner, 86, of St. Paul passed away peacefully at the Prairie Mission Retirement Village on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025.
Jane Anne was one of the triplets born to Fred and Anna (Brazil) Beachner on April 7, 1938, in Greenbush. As the spring blizzard of 1938 blanketed the Midwest, Jane Anne, along with her two brothers, were delivered by their grandmother and a young aunt in their grandmother’s house. Fred and Anna were traveling from their home in St. Paul to the hospital in Girard when they were forced to make an emergency stop in Greenbush.
She grew up along with her four brothers on the family farm northeast of St. Paul and attended elementary classes at the Lone Elm one-room country school and graduated from St. Paul High School in 1956.
She graduated from St. Mary of the Plains College in Dodge City in 1960 with a degree in English and obtained a master’s degree from the University of Oklahoma. She taught high school for several years before beginning an illustrious career in the federal government and the Department of Defense.
Jane Anne loved her life’s work. During her career, she lived in multiple cities, including Oklahoma City and Kansas City. In 1975, she moved to Fort Benning, Georgia, where she worked as an editor for Army Infantry Magazine. In 1976, she moved to Washington, D.C., to become an editor for the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Pentagon for many years. She finished her career in Washington, D.C., working for the Defense Intelligence Agency. She was highly regarded by colleagues for her work and received a prestigious DOD award for her editorial expertise.
From 1976 to 1990, Jane Anne lived in Alexandria, Virginia, where she was a member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church and enjoyed singing in the adult choir. She loved living in Alexandria and enjoyed traveling back from St. Paul frequently to visit friends and colleagues.
After returning home to St. Paul, she became a member of the St. Francis Catholic Church, the Daughters of Isabella, the adult choir, Harvest House and many other church and community organizations. She was also a member of the National Association of Retired Federal Employees Association.
Jane Anne had a lifelong love for music and the arts and will always be fondly remembered by her nieces and nephews for never missing a birthday.
Jane Anne had a large extended family with four brothers, 24 nieces and nephews and 68 great-nieces and great-nephews. She was “the world’s best aunt” to her nieces and nephews and she was lovingly referred to as “the family jewel.”
She was preceded in death by her parents, Fred and Anna (Brazil) Beachner; her brothers, William, Robert, Jerry and Eugene (Corky); multiple nieces and nephews; and her infant triplet brother, James Beachner, who died shortly after birth.
The funeral Mass will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 18, at the St. Francis Catholic Church with burial to follow in St. Francis Cemetery. The rosary will be prayed at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at the church. Friends may call after 1 p.m. Monday, Feb. 17, at the Carson-Wall Funeral Home in St. Paul. Several family members will be present to receive friends from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday at the Carson-Wall Funeral Home in St. Paul. The Daughters of Isabella will pray a rosary at 3 p.m. Monday.
The family suggests memorials to St. Francis Church. They may be left at or sent to the funeral home, at P.O. Box 272, St. Paul, KS, 66771.
Leave online condolences at www.wallfuneralservices.com.
