SALEM - Jane T. LaChapelle, 96, of Salem, long-term partner of the late Edward Alfred “Buzzy” Barton, passed away at The Lafayette in Marblehead, on Tuesday, July 26, 2016. She is survived by her beloved sons David C. and his wife Annette LaChapelle of Revere, Peter D. LaChapelle of Salem; granddaughter Katie LaChapelle of Boston, nephew Robert Nagle and wife Linda of Pembroke Pines, Florida; cousins Lorraine and Christopher Allison, Michael, Richard, Kathy and Sharon Smith; and numerous members of the Gawrys family. She was predeceased by her former husband, Charles LaChapelle.
Born October 8, 1919 in Salem, she was the daughter of the late Victor and Josephine (Gawrys) Zdanowicz, who came to this country from Poland. Jane attended St. John the Baptist Grammar School, and the Salem High School business program, and followed a highly respected and competent career in bookkeeping, working with Harry Winters, CPA, and Harry Simon, Esq. She did bookkeeping for various other firms including Furman Leather and A.C. Lawrence, Judd Men’s Clothing; Means Chevrolet & Oldsmobile, and served as Principal Accounts Clerk for the Salem School Department through the administrations of six Superintendents of School.
Jane loved music and the arts, nature, and history. She planted and tended gardens for thirty years with the Salem Garden Club, and volunteered for twenty one years at the Broadway Club at The North Shore Music Theater.
She kept the books for Pioneer Village Management Associates, Salem, which was the United States’ first living history museum, from 1988 to 1992 as a volunteer in a successful effort to prevent its demise from lack of attention.
Her life’s priorities were caring for and educating her sons to the best of her ability, sharing her Polish heritage (and food) with her community, and in many small and anonymous ways contributing to the betterment of the city she loved.
Jane was a mix of old school and new school concepts in approaching life’s challenges, based on hard work, the joy of discovery, and the pursuit of friendship, love and truth as the highest goals of a life well lived.
Funeral services will be held Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at 9 am from the Full-Spychalski Funeral Home, 84 Washington Square East, by Salem Common, Salem, followed by a Memorial Mass at 10 AM at the St. John the Baptist Church, Salem. Committal services will follow at St. Mary Cemetery, Salem. Visiting hours are Monday, at the funeral home from 4 to 7 pm. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited. For those who desire, donations may be made in Jane’s memory to the Friends of the Salem Council on Aging, Inc., 5 Broad St., Salem, MA 01970 or to The Salem Garden Club, care of Judy Conner, 20 Linden Ave., Salem, MA 01970. For on line guest book visit www.SalemFuneral.com.