Jan H. Rye, 1945-2021

A memorial service for Jan H. Rye of Quitman will be held Friday, Feb. 26, 2021 at the First United Methodist of Quitman with Rev. Keefe Cropper and Hon. Alice Tomerlin officiating. No visitation is planned. Honorary pallbearers are the Quitman High School Class of 1986, whom she taught in 3rd grade.

Jan passed away Feb. 15, 2021 in Tyler. She was 76.

Jan was born in Dallas on Feb. 14, 1945 to R.B. “Hutch” Hutchison and Nell Pace-Hutchison. She grew up in Hurst and attended Lawrence D. Bell High School (class of 1963), where she was active in cheerleading, dance, pageantry and the National Honor Society.

She attended Oklahoma State University and later earned a bachelor’s in education with an all-level teaching certificate from the University of North Texas in 1967.  

In May 1966, she married the love of her life, Ted W. Rye Jr.  They moved to Quitman in 1975 and welcomed the birth of their son, Tate Rye, in 1978.

Jan was a gifted and compassionate teacher. She taught 3rd grade at Harrison Lane Elementary in Hurst and at Quitman Elementary School. She retired early from her teaching career in 1987, in order to assist her husband Ted in managing his growing businesses.

Jan was passionate about her community and selflessly dedicated herself to various civic organizations over the past 40 years. She was a member (and later director) of the Quitman Scenic Association, which promoted tourism and commerce within the community. In that role, she served twice as the director of the annual Miss Dogwood Pageant. She was a founding member of the Quitman Friends of the Public Library. This organization was instrumental in creating an endowment which saved the library from permanent closure in the late 1970s, and it helped to secure the permanent location in which it is housed today.  

In 1988, Jan was elected to the Quitman City Council. She served as an alderman for eight years, and also briefly as mayor pro tem. From 1998 until 2014, she volunteered annually with the Quitman Christmas Sharing organization, which provides toys for less fortunate families throughout the greater Quitman area.

Jan and Ted were also very active and dedicated to the Boy Scouts of America. Jan served as a den leader in Cub Scout Pack 36 and later as a committee member for Boy Scout Troop 36. Her many behind-the-scenes roles were crucial to the success of the Quitman Scouting program and to the East Texas Area Council as a whole.

Jan was a faithful member of First United Methodist Church of Quitman for 46 years. She served on countless committees, served as a lay reader and was a teacher for Vacation Bible School nearly every summer since 1976.

Jan was preceded in death by her parents, Nell and Hutch Hutchison, and by her husband, Ted Rye.

Left to cherish Jan’s memory are her son, Tate Rye, of Lindale; grandson, Spencer Rye, of Mineola; sister, Mina Telford and husband Beau of Bedford; nephew, Will Totsch and wife Latrice of Dallas; sister-in-law, Kathy Totsch of Bedford; former daughter-in-law, Candi Fry and husband Bill of Mineola; and granddaughters, Brittney Johnson and Courtney Johnson-Shanks, of Mineola.