Jane Moore May Obituary

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Jane Moore May (Fairfax, Virginia), who passed away on December 4, 2023, at the age of 96, leaving to mourn family and friends.

Jane May, born Jane Brownley Moore on 4 September 1927 in Hampton, Virginia to mother, Charlotte Elsie Merrell and father, Augustine Curtis Moore. Jane’s father died when she was six. Jane and her mother moved in with her grandmother until Charlotte married James Ashe. Jane had no siblings, but she had many friends she held dear for her entire life, including Elizabeth Riggins Braun, currently of Tucson, Arizona. Jane was a bright and talented student, graduating as valedictorian from Hampton High School. She was unable to pursue higher education but needed to work to support her family. She served as a secretary at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Center at Langley Air Force Base, while also teaching shorthand at night. Jane enjoyed her time at NACA. She worked with rank-and-file engineers as well as aerospace legends, like Jimmy Doolittle, and recalled the pranks and the camaraderie of the close-knit group with fondness. New hires were routinely asked to pick up a bucket of propeller pitch, and there were a few surreptitious occurrences of roller skating in the wind tunnel.

While at NACA, Jane met Ralph W May Jr, a Montana-born, Kansas farm boy turned aeronautical engineer. Ralph and Jane briefly dated in the early 1950s, and reconnected once Ralph was transferred to NACA headquarters in Washington, DC. On 31 May 1958, Ralph and Jane married and Jane Moore May moved to her new home on Barbara Lane, Fairfax, VA. Here they raised their two daughters, Becky May (now of Fairfax, VA) and Carol May (now of Falls Church, VA). Jane was energetic, social, eternally upbeat and optimistic, and she cherished her friends of all ages. She participated in bridge groups and dinner groups and excelled at the challenge level in square dancing. No matter what the occasion, Jane was dressed to the nines in smart, color-coordinated outfits (especially red) from her head to her toe. Country boy Ralph introduced city girl Jane to the whole new world of camping, hiking, and backpacking. Jane was a bit skeptical at first, but she learned to love the adventure of travel and new experiences. In addition to many long family camping vacations, she traveled internationally and even drove cross-country, alone, in mid-February. On the home front, she cooked and canned and pickled from Ralph’s half-acre garden but drew the line at picking beans. She was an active member of Annandale United Methodist Church, singing in the choir and running the Adult Sunday School for many years.

After Ralph’s death in 2004, Jane continued to thrive, with a second relationship in her 80s with Ed Waters of Fairfax. Jane recovered from invasive neurosurgery in her 80s and lived for 13 additional years in her beloved home. Sadly, her mental and physical state deteriorated significantly over the past year. She was placed in hospice in late August and died in her beloved home on 4 December 2023.

Leave a sympathy message to the family on the memorial page of Jane Moore May to pay them a last tribute.