Jane Bickley

is honored with a Large Paver from Mr. and Mrs. Jim Albright, Dr. and Mrs. John Albright, Mr. and Mrs. E.B. Bickley, John Bickley, Mr. and Mrs. Jon Callen, R.K. Edmiston, Dr. and Mrs. Herbert M. Lindsley, Mr. and Mrs. Tom Lindsley, Mr. and Mrs. Michael Massey, Dr. and Mrs. Phil McKnight, Mr. and Mrs. Rob McKnight, Susan V. McKnight, Mr. and Mrs. Walt Rising, Barbara B. Segraves, Mr. and Mrs. Steven C. Woods, and Mr. and Mrs. Dick Yetke.

It didn't happen by design. Six families moved to the 200 block on North Terrace in Wichita, KS during the 1940s and early 1950s. What started as "new neighbors" became six women and their families who developed lifelong friendships. The sixteen children grew up in a loving, nurturing, and secure extended family. The relationship grew close enough that we had six mothers and fathers whom we affectionately called "aunt and uncle." They were always there to support each other's family... during the many fun times, as well as the times of pain and sorrow. Collectively, our memories of those years are countless and vivid. We honor our six mothers as heroines who were such a significant part of our lives as children and as adults. These six heroines... Mary Albright, Jane Bickley, Kathlien Edmiston, Barbara Lindsley, Margaret McKnight, and Arline Rising... taught us, through their lives and friendship, the true meaning of caring and love.

Jane Buckley Bickley was born in Kansas City, MO in 1922, and was educated at Monticello College prior to her marriage to Edgar Bickley during WW II. Jane and Ed had two children, Barbara and John, and the Bickley family moved to Wichita, Kansas, in the early 1950s, settling into a house at 219 North Terrace Drive.

Jane became active in the Wichita community, participating in the Camp Fire Girls as well as with other civic groups. While her husband's career growth caused the Bickley family to move from Wichita in the late 1950's, Jane remained faithful to her friends throughout her life, corresponding and visiting whenever possible. Ed's business opportunities brought them back to Wichita to live several times. Each time, the friendships were refreshed to serve as a basis for the times when they would be living apart.

Jane had a lifelong interest in the fine arts, and enjoyed sharing her craft skills with the neighborhood children. Summers meant entertaining the children with each mother having an activity to teach. Jane taught the children to paint using easels which the fathers built and set up in the Bickley's backyard. Her other interests included literature and poetry, antiques and decorative furnishings, genealogy, gardening and architecture. She was an active member of the New England Historical and Genealogical Society, and was a Daughter of the American Revolution.

Jane's legacy is the love that remains for her in the hearts of all who knew her. She died July 8, 1987, in Red Bank, New Jersey, after suffering a long illness.

Submitted by her children Barbara Bickley Seagraves and John Bickley. (See also Mary Albright, Kathlien Edmiston, Barbara Lindsley, Margaret McKnight, and Arline Rising.)

September 12, 1998