Jane Hunt McLin
Jane Hunt McLin died on March 5, 2019 at Oak Hammock in Gainesville, Florida. She was born March 11, 1937 in Humboldt, Tenn. to Jane Johnson Hunt and Elmer Hunt, Jr., and she attended public school there through the eleventh grade. Upon her mother’s remarriage, Jane moved with her to Oxford Mississippi where she received her high school diploma from Oxford University High School.
Jane entered Randolph Macon Women’s College in 1955 where she was initiated into Delta Delta Delta sorority. In 1957, she transferred to the University of Mississippi and graduated in 1959.
She began her professional career in Atlanta with Houghton-Mifflin Publishing Company. After relocating to Memphis, and after an extensive tour in Europe, she worked for the First National Bank of Memphis and Holiday Inns of America in the latter’s corporate headquarters.
In November 1963, Jane married James Cloud McLin, Jr. He was a professional musician who, having made his orchestral debut at the age of 12 by playing the Grieg Piano Concerto with the Memphis Symphony, had a lifelong love affair with the piano. Together Jane and Jim moved to Chicago and a larger world of music.
In Chicago, Jane became the Director of Alumni Affairs for Kendall College and Jim became the Director of Product and Music Development for the Hammond Organ Company. As the co-inventor of the Hammond Piper Autochord, Jim traveled the world as he demonstrated his invention in concert halls on five continents. Jane was always by his side.
Their life adventure in music took them to Los Angeles and to the formation of CMI and Associates, an agency serving a broad spectrum of the music industry.
Upon the death of Jim’s CMI partner, Jane and Jim joined their extended family that was living in North Florida. Jane served for 17 years as an assistant to the president of the Sarvis Company, a worldwide military brokerage company whose headquarters was in Jacksonville. In 1990, Jim resumed his musical studies at the School of Music of Florida State University in Tallahassee and received his doctorate in piano performance in December 1996. Nine months later, he died from stomach cancer.
Jane continued her career in Jacksonville until she suddenly lost her central vision to macular degeneration and joined her mother at Oak Hammock at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Here she founded and chaired the Aging Eye Focus Group and served on the Chapel Committee until her death.
She is survived by her sister, Walker, and her brother-in-law Ray Sahag of Mandeville, Louisiana; her brother Roy Hunt, who is also a resident of Oak Hammock in Gainesville; step-sisters Lynn Dowsley of Humboldt, Tenn., and Carole Clark of Chattanooga; stepdaughter Jekka Pinckney of Collierville, Tenn.; and brother-in-law Jon Blythe McLin of Geneva, Switzerland.
Jane was blessed with many wonderful caregivers as blindness made her increasingly dependent, but we want to give a special mention and thanks to Linda Kasicki and Dana Scheil. We also want to give a warm thanks to her longtime pastor and close friend Don McGarity and his wife, Bonnie.
A celebration of life was held at Oak Hammock. She was placed beside her husband and a graveside service took place at Memorial Park in Memphis.