Jane White Brown, age 94, died on March 13, 2025.
Jane Ellen White was born on October 31, 1930, in the home of her grandparents, Ellen R. Kelly and John S. Kelly in the Glenaire Community of Liberty, Missouri. She was the daughter of Kathleen Kelly White and Mahlon Neil White of Warsaw, Missouri. She was the wife of Leo Conboy Brown, who preceded her in death. She grew up in the old riverboat town of Warsaw, Missouri, where her great-grandfather founded the Benton County Enterprise in 1879. Her mother inspired her love of nature by taking her on woodland walks, exploring caves and star gazing. Jane’s love of music also stemmed from childhood memories of her mother singing around the piano and listening to records on the phonograph. Her father taught her the value of appreciating and respecting people from all walks of life. He once took her to have breakfast with members of a circus. He said, “Jane it takes everyone to get the circus tent and the performance on; from the clean-up crew to the trapeze artist’s. She never forgot that. Jane and her father brought food for the tramps who slept overnight in railroad cars at the train depot. Joining her father in the Ozark Hills to watch a baptism in the river made a lasting impression. Jane’s childhood experiences served her well as she later wrote a newspaper column titled “Pardon Me, If My Slip Is Showing”, interviewing everyday people in Clinton, Missouri.
Jane graduated from Warsaw High School in 1949, with leadership experience as Class President. She attended William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri and later obtained a journalism degree from the University of Missouri where she was a member if Alpha Delta Pi sorority. Following graduation in 1953, she worked as a reporter and advertising sales person for the Clinton Daily Democrat, before moving to Kansas City, Missouri in 1955. She had an extensive career in communications as a reporter, editor and fundraiser for not-for-profit agencies in the Kansas City area. She married Leo Conboy Brown in 1973 at the nostalgic Saint Patrick’s Catholic Church and they eventually bought a home in Brookside.
Jane served as President for Kansas Industrial Editors, Estate Planning Council, The National Society of Fund-Raising Executives, The Greater Kansas City Council of Philanthropy and The Women’s Committee for the UMKC Conservatory. She also organized and led a weekly discussion group at Saint Andrews H.P. Community Center covering national and local news. She volunteered her time reading law textbooks to visually impaired UMKC students. She was a Nelson Adkins Musuem volunteer for 44 years and served six years as a tour guide at the Kansas City Musuem of Contemporary Art.
In retirement, Jane enjoyed meeting friends for coffee at Bella Napoli, mediating near Grape Arbor in Swope Park and shopping for antiques at estate sales. She loved attending concerts and plays at the Kansas City Actors Theatre, Missouri Reparatory, The Unicorn Theatre and UMKC Student Recitals and the Kansas City Symphony.
Jane White Brown was preceded in death by her husband, Conboy; parents, Mahlon Neill and Kathleen Kelly White; brother, Mahlon Kelly White; and sisters, Lydia Alice White and Kathleen White Miles.
She is survived by her nephews and nieces John Kelly White, James Mahlon White, Ellen Miles Cullings, Julie White Lorenz, Amy White Jeffries and other family that includes great nieces and nephews.
A graveside memorial service will be held at Riverside Cemetery in Warsaw at 10:00 A.M. Saturday March 22, 2025, with lunch following at Hilltop BBQ.
Memorial contributions can be made to the Benton County Musuem, P.O. Box 1082 Warsaw, Missouri, 65355; The Women’s Committee for the UMKC Conservatory c/o Mrs. John D. Turner, 649 West 69th Street, Kansas City, Missouri, 64113; or Development Director of UMKC Conservatory with funds going towards the Lydia Alice White and Mahlon Kelly White Piano Scholarship Fund.
