Mrs. Jane Mitchell, 1909 – 2009
Interview and profile completed by Ms. Carol Ellis, 2009-2010
Mrs. Jane Mitchell, a past member of the Cape Fear Garden Club, was born on September 20, 1909. Having had her 100th birthday on Sunday, September 20, 2009, Mrs. Mitchell was delighted with the attention that milestone brought to her. When asked about her birthday Mrs. Mitchell said, “I think one’s 100th birthday is the most popular birthday”. The evidence of the truth in that statement was demonstrated by the fact that on nearly every piece of furniture in her lovely home were fresh, beautiful flowers and some balloons sent to her by admiring friends.
Jane Mitchell and her late husband, Hardin, moved to Wilmington in the 1970’s. An avid duplicate bridge player, Jane was born and raised in New Albany, Indiana, just across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky. The Mitchells often hosted a Kentucky Derby party, a tradition she continued until a few years ago. Mrs. Mitchell joined the Cape Fear Garden Club before 1980. When asked about the reasons she joined the garden club, Mrs. Mitchell said, “Oh, I loved gardening when I was that age”, and she liked the people she met in the club as well. When asked about her favorite flower, Mrs. Mitchell answered, “the aster though it doesn’t grow well here, but I struggled with it and finally got some pretty asters”.
Mrs. Mitchell was the recording secretary of the Cape Fear Garden Club at some point in her long membership. She said a strict parliamentary procedure was always followed at board meetings. She remarked that her favorite project was the Garden Tour and that she was the person in charge of getting people to sign up to sit in a particular garden for several years. Mrs. Mitchell said that Mrs. Bess Smith, the founder of the Garden Tour, was a good friend of hers.
When asked about the growth in club membership, Mrs. Mitchell said, “I am not an authority on the subject but to me the club was much more interesting, attractive, and fun when it was much smaller”. She said it used to be that everybody had a job particularly at tour time – it used to be that everybody was busy. Her advice for future members of the club was to love to garden and to help with the club’s projects or not to be members of the club.
Before leaving Mrs. Mitchell’s home, she showed her terrace much of which had been planted by her when she moved into her Reston Court home. She revealed with a big smile how much she loved to have parties on her terrace when she first moved in, but that now that she is legally blind she is unable to do that anymore. She seemed to be happy in her home with all of her lovely pictures and furniture and for the most part she mused, “I am grateful for each day”.
Approximately three weeks after this interview Jane Mitchell passed away on October 12, 2009.