Worthington High Schools Alumni Club - Deceased Classmates
First Name
Mary Jane
Maiden Name
Cook
Last Name
Becht
Passing Date
9/11/2021
Class Attended
1962
High School
Worthington High School
Mary Jane Becht, “Jane” passed away Saturday, September 11, 2021, at Ava’s House Hospice. Mary Jane Cook was born in Elm Grove, West Virginia to Lawrence A. and Wilma E. (Marshall) Cook and later the family moved to Columbus, Ohio. There she graduated from high school and attended business school and worked as a bookkeeper. It was there where she met and married Lyle A. Becht. She was proud of her childhood in the great state of West Virginia and told many stories of that time to curious kids and grandkids. Jane successfully coupled her passion for travel and love of her family with the life she created with Lyle while supporting his military career and moving around the world. Together they lived in Guam, Germany and multiple locations in the United States. Jane was very industrious in planning many vacations and adventures including weekend fishing trips in the north woods of Maine and month long caravan tours of Europe, before the internet. She did this all while navigating a ‘74 Pontiac Catalina through the narrow streets of far off cities. She returned her family to South Dakota to settle in Rapid City and later moved on to Sioux Falls where she and Lyle enjoyed the last 30 years entertaining family and spending their winters in their RV in warmer weather. In addition to a successful career, Jane possessed many artistic and creative talents including quilting, painting, cross stitch and cooking. She created many treasured works of art reflecting her love of travel and family. Her quilts have and will keep generations of our family warm on cold nights. She had a big heart that all who met her could sense immediately. Jane will be greatly missed by many friends and family including her 3 children, Phillip Becht, Erika Becht Dooley (Sean), and Tonya Bescheinen (David), 7 grandchildren, Zac, Suzy, Josie, Hugo, Ethan, Aidan and Isabella, and 1 great grandchild, Athena. She is preceded in death by her husband of 54 years, Lyle A. Becht, her parents, Lawrence and Wilma Cook, her twin sister, Jean (Cook) Lehman and 2 brothers, Sonny and Ray Cook.
