Remembering Jane Lotter

Mom with Keeper at a Sierra Lake, ca. late '80s.

Free download: To honor Mom on her 97th birthday (Nov 7) I have uploaded a PDF copy of her book "To Africa With Spatula" (it's on Google Drive, so it's a safe link). Here is the link to the PDF file. You can then download it to read in Kindle or PDF reader.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Yuw9LeaH1i4GBdEP0cTJVvPhTd0okGXK/view?usp=sharing

I submitted three times to Amazon to put it into Kindle. They refused. Even after I showed that I myself am in the book and showed documentation (Mom's death certificate, my docs etc.) and wrote a special plea letter. Their Kindle division still refused, frustratingly.

1925-2016

Sponsored by State Senator Lois Wolk.

Nice piece by Bob Dunning in the Davis Enterprise March 9, 2016. At www.davisenterprise.com

Bob Dunning: One of the reasons Davis is Davis
By Bob Dunning From page A2 | March 09, 2016

THE BEST OF THE BEST … for my money, Jane Lotter was one of the greatest women ever to grace our town … Jane, who died late last month at the age of 90, was a part of so many good things in Davis that it was hard to keep track of them all … she and her husband, Will, were to social justice issues what Dorothy and Bob Laben were to feeding the hungry … for years and years it seemed as if the Lotter home on Sunset Court was open to just about anyone in need …

As the Bible says, the two shall become one, and Jane and Will were one every day since their marriage in the Berkeley hills more than 68 years ago … they came to Davis in 1952 and raised their four accomplished sons here … Jane co-founded Davis Su***de Prevention, and she and Will were co-founders of the Unitarian Church in Davis in the early ’60s and also co-founded the Davis Religious Community for Sanctuary … the Lotters also made frequent trips to Guatemala to help disadvantaged people there …

But way beyond her activism and her passion for helping the less fortunate, people will remember Jane for her innate kindness and her unique understanding that we all have a story to tell … she will be missed …

Jane Baker Lotter passed away on February 28, 2016 at the age of 90 having lived a full and adventurous life. She had four sons, but was mother to many. She is survived by her husband Will and her four sons Don, Mike, Scott, and Rick, all of whom were at her side in her last days in the house on Sunset Court in Davis where all of her boys were born and raised. Jane was born and raised in Berkeley, California. Her parents were Louis Baker, originally from Missouri, and Eunice Trefts Baker, great-granddaughter of a California early pioneer. Jane attended University High and Berkeley High School before entering the University of California, Berkeley as a freshman, following in the footsteps of both of her “Old Blue” parents. Jane was active in Alpha Phi Sorority and was named Campus Queen in 1946. That year she met Cal football and baseball star and Navy veteran Will Lotter on a blind date. They were married in 1947 in the Baker home in the Berkeley hills overlooking the Bay. In the years before their children were born, Jane and Will worked summers in Yosemite Park for the Curry Company, where she hiked extensively. Jane loved camping and backpacking in the Sierra with Will and their boys.

Will and Jane moved to Davis in 1952 where Will took a University of California Davis faculty position in the Physical Education Department. It was that first year in Davis where she gave birth to Don, then to Mike the following year, Scott in 1957, and Rick in 1961. She has three grandchildren – Dustin and Chelsea and husband Kyle Black (Scott and wife Tracy, Paradise, CA), and Emma (Rick and wife Tracy Walton, Sacramento). Mike (San Anselmo, CA) has a partner of 11 years, Beth Ullrich. Don has recently returned to Davis after six years in Africa.

Jane and Will were founding members of the Unitarian Church in Davis in the early ‘60s, and remain with the church to this day. In 1964 Will, with Jane’s encouragement and support, joined the U.S. Peace Corps. The Lotter family was sent to Malawi, Africa where Will was appointed country director. Jane became a legend among the Peace Corps volunteers because of her pancake breakfasts every Sunday in the Lotter house, which drew up to 50 of them at a time, most from remote outposts in the bush. Jane’s book To Africa with Spatula (available on Amazon) chronicles their experiences. Jane’s work with an orphanage run by nuns at an isolated mission is central to the book.

Upon returning to Davis in 1967 Jane took up tennis and enjoyed playing nearly every day through the 1980s. She was also an accomplished artist and enjoyed drawing pastel portraits. Jane taught swimming lessons to dozens of Davis kids in the family pool. She was a regular at all of Will's tennis and soccer team games and matches, was a Mom on the road trips, and hosted innumerable fun-filled team gatherings. During the 1970s the call of service to humanity was strong. Jane co-founded Davis Su***de Prevention, a 24/7 on-call service, and with the remarkable ladies of Sunset Court as a core team virtually held that effort together for many years, even when the city of Sacramento routed its calls to them.

Jane and Will co-founded the Davis Religious Community for Sanctuary. For over 30 years Jane opened her house for innumerable meetings, gave countless hours of help to Guatemalans and Salvadorans in need, sold crafts at the Farmers Market to raise funds, and was honorary grandmother to many children. Annual trips to Guatemala to support the Families of the Disappeared organization was a big part of her life. As one of her colleagues said “Jane was an angel to all the lives she touched.” Jane was part of a women’s group that met weekly for 40 years, called in its later years the “Davis Purple Ladies”. Typical of Jane’s lifelong sense of adventure was her adoption of a llama (Como) that Will brought home from the Farmers Market one day. Always up for a challenge, Jane went back to college in 1977 and after much struggle finished her Bachelor’s degree in Design at UCD.

Jane, along with Will, was the co-recipient of numerous awards for community service, including the City of Davis Peace and Justice Award in 1991, the Yolo County Concilio Senior Citizen Recognition Award 2003, and the Davis Martin Luther King Jr 2005 Lifetime Achievement Award.

In addition to her husband, children, and grandchildren, Jane is survived by her brother William Baker, her sister Nanette Forthuber and numerous nieces and nephews.

Postings and remembrances are welcome on this page. In lieu of flowers, Jane would want any donations to be sent to the Davis Unitarian Church or the charity of choice. A celebration of Jane's life will be held at the Unitarian Church on Patwin Road in Davis on Sunday, April 3 at 3pm.

Don Lotter https://www.facebook.com/don.lotter.1
Michael Lotter https://www.facebook.com/michael.lotter.14?fref=ts
Scott Lotter https://www.facebook.com/scott.lotter?fref=ts
Rick Lotter https://www.facebook.com/rick.lotter

Remembering Jane Lotter Jane Lotter 1925-2016