Elizabeth Jane Stockton Pray

Jane passed away in her home surrounded by her family, Saturday morning, December 28, 2019 after a remarkably patient battle with cancer for six months. She was seventy-nine years old.

Born January 17, 1940 in Hutchinson, Kansas, Jane was raised in Hutchinson where she met and married her high-school sweetheart, Don Pray, on September 11, 1957. Over the next forty years and after their move to Dodge City, Kansas, Don and Jane raised ten children together. After Don’s death in 2013, Jane moved to Payson, Utah, where most of her children live with their families.

After the birth of her children, the pivotal moment in Jane’s life was her baptism in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when she was twenty-five. She served faithfully and well as a member of the Church for almost sixty years. Near the end of her life, she defined herself as a teacher in the children’s organization in her local Church of Jesus Christ congregation. Jane was a committed member of her church and served in various capacities over the course of her life, including teacher and organization leader; however, she most loved working with the children as a Primary teacher and researching her family’s history. She and her family were sealed for eternity in the Provo, Utah Temple in 1976. Her faith in God and in the Savior remained strong to the end of her life.

Jane is remembered by her friends and family for her generous and compassionate personality, her incredible capacity for helping and serving anyone, friends or strangers, her dedication to her parents, siblings, and children, and her commitment to her religious faith. Perhaps best known for her artistic ability, Jane sewed and tailored clothes and costumes for her children and grandchildren and others, crocheted and knitted gifts for family and friends, crafted décor for her home and for gifts, and painted not only the walls in her home but fine ceramic and wood crafts. She also painted portraits and landscapes like her maternal grandmother before her. She was a prolific storyteller, a gift she passed on to her children.

Jane is survived by her ten children, forty-six grandchildren, twenty-one great-grandchildren, and her sister, Mary Stockton Inglehart. She was preceded in death by her brothers, Bernard and Jeff Stockton, her grandson, Michael Earl, her great-granddaughter, Ellie Earl, and her great-grandson, Lincoln Pray.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m., Thursday, January 2, 2019 at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 586 West 1750 South, Payson, Utah 84651. Friends may visit with the family from 9:30-10:30 a.m. prior to services. Interment will be in the Payson City Cemetery. Condolences may be expressed at www.bergmortuary.com.