Jane S. Longenecker, 93, funeral home operator

Jane Scherer Longenecker, 93, who operated the C. Henry Longenecker Funeral Home in North Wales with her husband for 33 years, died Sunday, May 29, at Brittany Pointe Estates, a retirement community in Lansdale.

Mrs. Longenecker graduated from Havertown High School in 1936 and then worked in public relations for the Keystone Auto Club, now AAA, in Philadelphia.

In 1949, she married C. Henry Longenecker. They met when he was working for a funeral director in Ardmore and made the arrangements for her mother's funeral.

Mrs. Longenecker was a stay-at-home mother in Ardmore until 1960, when she and her husband purchased a funeral home in North Wales.

She was a three-term president of the Women's Civic Club of North Wales, a former member of the North Penn League of Women Voters, and a corresponding secretary of the North Penn Republican Club. She was on the North Penn Horse Show Committee - the show benefited the North Penn Volunteer Fire Company - and served on the board of the North Wales Civic Improvement Association. In 1969, she was secretary of the North Wales Centennial Celebration Committee.

In the early years of their marriage, she and her husband enjoyed square dancing, and she made her own outfits. Later, they went ballroom dancing with other members of the Rhythmic Society, a social club.

The couple enjoyed entertaining, summers at their home in Cape May, and travel along the East Coast.

Mrs. Longenecker worked with her husband at the funeral home until retiring in 1993, said their daughter, Ellen Reese. They moved to Brittany Pointe the next year. He died in 2000.

After a granddaughter gave her a butterfly kit, Mrs. Longenecker raised American Painted Lady butterflies for five years with the help of other Brittany Pointe residents.

Besides her daughter, she is survived by daughters Jane Forrester and Greta; four grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

A funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, June 2, at Episcopal Church of the Messiah, 1001 DeKalb Pike, Lower Gwynedd. Friends may call from 10 a.m. Burial will be in the churchyard.

Donations may be made to the Bucks County SPCA, Box 277, Lahaska, Pa. 18931.