LaVena "Jane" Hoyt

LaVena “Jane” Hoyt, 99, Altus, died in the early morning of March 28, 2011, at Plantation Village Nursing Center. A memorial service will be held on Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at the St. Paul’s Episcopal Church columbarium. Arrangements are under the direction of the Kincannon Funeral Home. She was born on September 11, 1911, in Hobart, Oklahoma. Jane was one of nine children, all deceased, of the late J.J. and Eula Hunter. She married William Henry Hoyt on July 5, 1931. They celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in 1991, a few weeks before he died on July 17. Jane and Henry owned and co-managed Hoyt Furniture and Carpeting in Altus for 30 years until they retired in 1975. In 1929, Jane graduated from Hobart High School, where she earned her nickname “Jane” from a play for which she had the lead role. After high school, she attended Oklahoma Women’s College in Chickasha. She met her husband-to-be, then a senior at Oklahoma A&M University (now Oklahoma State University), at a school dance. They were married a year later and were in the furniture business in Hobart until 1952, when they moved the business to Altus. She was active in the Episcopal Church in Altus for 40 years. Jane was an active learner all her life, taking courses at Western Oklahoma State College for many years, even after her children were grown. She and her Henry were expert bridge players and avid readers. She resided at 1825 Hudson Drive until she moved to Plantation Village Nursing Center in 2009. She is survived by her daughter, Lynn Sharp of Altus; a son, Timothy Hoyt and his wife, Martha, of Raleigh, NC; a son, William “Bill” Hoyt and his wife, Brenda, of Oklahoma City, OK; six loving grandchildren, Tori Sharp Corcoran of Kent, WA, Summer Hoyt Norton of Ava, OK, Allison Hoyt Carrick of Oshkosh, WI, Jonathan Hoyt of Chicago, IL, Mary Robyn Hoyt Peotter of Milwaukee, WI, and Laurel Hoyt Blinka of Milwaukee, WI; and twelve wonderful great-grandchildren. A few years ago, her older sister Sybil told a story epitomizing Jane’s characteristic sense of thrift and purpose, a trait nurtured by the Great Depression and WWII. On Saturdays during the later years of WWII, Jane and Vee Hester, her best friend, would meet with Sybil and other working war wives downtown at the A and B café (in Hobart) to catch up on each other’s news. Sybil recounted: We’re all sitting down around the Queen Bee table – there are about ten of us, and Gladys comes over and takes our orders. Everyone asks for coffee, which is a nickel a cup, as you all know, and a few of us also order a sweet role. Jane is last to be asked, and she says, “Nothing for me, please.” Well, good grief, everyone thinks she doesn’t have any money, so they look at her pitifully and offer to pay. Jane looks surprised and says to everyone, “Oh, I have money, but I’d rather save it.” “But a cup of coffee is only a nickel,” someone says. Well, Jane speaks up and tells us all that she and Vee are saving so Henry and Bob (that’s their husbands’ names) can start a business together when they get back from overseas. Poor Vee is sitting there looking at her cup, thinking that she spent a valuable nickel for a cup of coffee, and feeling embarrassed that Jane is saving every nickel. Well, that nickel creates quite a stir. Everyone at the table looks at Jane and tells her that she has to be the best saver in town, hands down. Jane Hoyt was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother as well as a good friend to many. She will be missed.