Jane Preston Peek

RALEIGH - Jane Preston Peek, 78, died on Tuesday, June 14, 2011 at her home in Raleigh, after a long and courageous battle with rheumatoid arthritis. Jane was born on January 21, 1933, in Zebulon, Ga. Her parents, C.W. and Ruth Preston, wrote, edited, typeset, printed and delivered the Pike County Journal for 31 years in the basement of Janes home in the country. She and her younger sister, Sara, often recalled working the press while her father prepared the next sheet on the linotype. Jane loved the country, but showed at an early age that she much preferred nice dresses, make-up, and other girl things to feeding chickens or harvesting pecans. Bobby Bonner Peek was the love of Janes life. As early as grade school she had eyes only for him. As Jane matured she realized she had a gift for music - and so did Bobby. An Evening with Jane and Bobby became a regular feature on the local radio station, always remembered by their theme song, With A Song In My Heart. The song that bound them together, however, was I Love You Truly. In 1951 they married, and two years later Jane gave birth to the first of their three children, Robert Preston Peek, in Atlanta. The family then moved to Alexandria, Va., where Julia Lynne Peek was born. Bobbys vocation would eventually carry the family across the globe, and in 1959 they left America for the exotic island of Okinawa, which became the birthplace of their third child, Scott Nathan Peek. For the rest of her life, Japanese idioms sprinkled Janes conversations. The family next moved to Brussels, Belgium, which Jane remembered as two glorious years without a television. There she passed her love of music to her children, who learned to enjoy everything from show tunes to Chopin. From Belgium the family traveled to Australia for a three-year stint. This was by far Janes favorite country, and she made many life-long friends there. Jane and Bobby returned to Virginia in 1968. The children finished school and left the nest. When Preston moved to Durham in 1985, Scott and Julia followed. When Bobby died in 1993, Jane moved to Raleigh to be near her children and two daughters-in-law, Prestons wife Mary Lynn and Scotts wife Debbie. Jane was thrilled when her first grandchild, Madeleine Ruth Peek, was born to Preston and Mary Lynn, followed by Maddys sister Emily Bonner Peek three years later. Gram, as she asked to be called, was the perfect grandmother, baking cookies, buying outfits, teaching songs, and doing all those special things that only a grandmother can do with her granddaughters. Bobby, who sadly never saw his granddaughters, came alive as Gramps when Jane told the girls about him. She was a blessing in their lives. Janes arthritis worsened in her fifties until the pain disabled her. After two years she discovered gold shots, which miraculously allowed her to function with less pain for many years. The shots eventually stopped working, however, and in 2005 she began her long and painful decline. Through it all she stayed positive and never complained. Her friend and caretaker Judy Grove was a great comfort to Jane in her final years. Aside from her loving family, Jane is survived by her sister Sara Reeves; her brother-in-law Cary Reeves; and her nieces Karen, Midgie and Katie, and their families. To honor Janes memory, the family requests either that donations be made to the Arthritis National Research Foundation at 200 Oceangate, Suite 830 Long Beach, CA 90802, 1-800-588-2873, or www.curearthritis.org; or that flowers be sent to the Bryan-Lee Funeral Home, 831 Wake Forest Rd, 27604, 919-832-8225. A Funeral Service will be held Thursday at 11AM at Bryan-Lee Funeral Home, Raleigh. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at the funeral home. Following the service, there will be a reception at Janes home. On Friday, Jane will be buried next to her beloved husband Bobby at the Bright View Cemetery in Warrenton, Virginia, details to be handled by Moser Funeral Home in Warrenton.