Esther "Jane" Smith Neff, 94 passed away peacefully February 6, 2025 at Hospice of Northwest Ohio leaving behind a legacy of love, joy and lots of laughter. She was born on May 18, 1930 the second of three children growing up in the small farm town of Cecil, Ohio. Her family migrated to Oregon, Ohio in 1944 where she graduated from Clay High School in 1948 and thereafter completed three years of art school.

She was a brilliant artist, so proficient in encaustic painting that she became a teacher in that medium. She also loved creating with pen and ink, scratchboard and wood carving. Her Christmas Village that she constructed each year was renowned, featuring the Emerald City, miniatures of her hometown and was featured in The Blade's Peach section. She was an author, writing and self-publishing two children's books and an anthology of short stories from her childhood.

She was an avid U.S. and world traveler, walking the Great Wall of China, Hadrian's Wall in England and the Bridge of Sighs in Venice. She also enjoyed the simple pleasures of family traveling in Ohio with her two young grandsons. She always said they taught her everything she needed to know about fishing.

She was a beautiful and selfless woman, volunteering for several years in the hospice program at Riverside Hospital. During that time she started an art therapy program that was still active at the time of the hospital's closing. She had a profound love of history, reading and knowledge which she passed down to her entire family. Her beauty, inside and out, was apparent to everyone she knew and met.

She was preceded in death by her parents Donald and Alta Smith, sister Shirley Douge and husband Edward Neff. She is survived by her brother Ned Smith, daughters Kimberly (Pryor J.) Wood, Kyle (David) Heinl, sons Kirk (Patricia "Dede") Kovacs and Jay (Kelly) Lloyd, grandsons Cole (Gabriella) Snider, Drew (Kelly) Wood, granddaughters Angela (Craig) Ackerman, Dr. Nichole (Joel) Barcalow and great-grandchildren Ariana and Ava Ackerman, Dane and Cael Barcalow and Tabitha and Scott Wood.

The family will receive friends at the Eggleston Meinert & Pavley Funeral Home, Oregon Chapel, 440 S. Coy Road Monday, February 10, 2025 from 2:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. Those wishing to make donations in Jane's honor are encouraged to consider, Hospice of Northwest Ohio or charity of the donor's choice.