Jane Katherine O'Connor Finch

Jane Katherine O’Connor Finch was called home to her Lord on April 12, 2025. She was 93 years old. She is survived by her five children, Gayle, Victoria, Joseph (Carla), Elizabeth (Thomas), and Alice, her thirteen grandchildren, Michael (Ellen), Geoffrey, Jessica, David (Linda), Seth (Anna), and Stephanie Endres; Keith and Eric Finch; Steven, Andrew, Brian, Katherine and John Rosenzweig; and five great grandchildren, Tyler, Joshua, Veronica, Michael and Jacob Endres. She was preceded in death by her parents Katherine and James O’Connor, husband Keith, daughter Mary, siblings Joanne Archambeau, James O’Connor and Josephine Spencer, and son-in-law Michael Endres. Jane was recognized by those who knew and loved her as a warm, welcoming part of their families and communities. She had a lifelong devotion to God and her Catholic faith. Jane was born on July 3, 1931 in Ionia, Michigan to parents Katherine and James O’Connor. The daughter of a farmer (James) and teacher (Katherine), she learned from an early age the value of hard work, and of a firm and caring hand. In her late teenage years, she met Keith Finch, a U.S. Navy veteran who had returned from the Pacific Theater in WWII. As she told the story to her children, Keith was immediately enamored with Jane, but she demurred; Keith wasn’t Catholic, and Jane wanted a partner to walk in the same faith as her. Little did she know, even before meeting Jane, Keith was already taking classes to convert to the Catholic faith; he had been impressed by the resolve and fearlessness of the Catholics he served with during the war. Keith and Jane married in Ionia on April 26, 1952, and soon after, started their family. This grew until they were raising a family of five children (four girls, one boy) in Lowell, Michigan and then Grand Rapids, Michigan where Keith worked as a salesman, and Jane as a stay-at-home Mom. Jane excelled as the head of household, combining her rural farming background and instincts from her childhood during the Great Depression to make and can her own food, stretch ingredients in recipes, and conjure up decorations around the house from recycled materials. Her children learned to add, subtract and multiply by cooking with her; they learned a catalogue of great American standards and war songs from the diddies she’d sing while working around the house. They learned their Catholic faith and important life lessons with her as a role model. Remembered as fiercely creative and “eminently practical,” her children all recall a day when she accidentally added chili powder to a peach pie. Never one to waste food, Jane doctored the pie with warm spices like cinnamon and ginger. When served, her family declared it was the best peach pie she’d ever made. Jane's faith was tested when Keith was diagnosed with a rare cancer and after battling for many years succumbed to the disease in 1974. Jane quickly got a job to support her family, spending night shifts as a nurse’s aid, and then later, as a resident coordinator in a nursing school. Even as a widowed mother, Jane found a way to maintain her commitment to her children having a Catholic education. Throughout her life, Jane was a devoted and charitable volunteer. She believed that even under times of financial strain, you could always give your time. Jane was always involved with her Catholic faith; serving as a Eucharistic minister, volunteering as a sacristan at her local parish, and later as her children grew up and left the house, entered a Franciscan order of nuns. It was at this time, in her sixties, that Jane went back to school to receive a degree in early childhood education; a title that would serve her both in her Franciscan work and as she continued to welcome grandchildren into the world. Due to failing health, Jane did not take her final vows, and eventually relocated to DeLand, Florida, where her sister Joie wintered nearby. While there, she returned to old interests like drawing, taking art lessons at the Stetson University, and exploring other opportunities. She later returned to Lowell, Michigan to be closer to family. She kept busy drawing, watching the news, giving fellow seniors rides to church, and preparing batches of lemonade, bologna sandwiches, and gingersnap cookies for the eager droves of grandchildren. In 2020, as her dementia progressed and the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated health concerns, Jane moved into St. Ann’s retirement home in west Grand Rapids. She lived out her final years there, becoming a favorite of the sisters and nurses who worked there. She died peacefully, in her sleep, the morning of April 12. Even in her final week, she still made a near-daily habit of receiving communion; the sisters at St. Ann’s said she often remarked that Jesus was the “bridegroom of her soul.” Services will be on Friday, April 25th at St. Ann’s Home, 2161 Leonard St. NW. Grand Rapids, MI 49504. Visitation will be held in the Chapel at Noon, followed by Mass at 1:00. Luncheon to follow in the Holy Family Center. In Lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist https://lifeprocesscenter.org, the American Cancer Society https://donate.cancer.org, or St. Ann’s Home stannshome.betterworld.org/donate

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Jane Katherine O'Connor Finch

July 3, 1931 - April 12, 2025