Jane Arlene (Butterman) Steenstra, 92
Jane Arlene (Butterman) Steenstra died January 2, 2026, in Pittsboro, North Carolina. She was 92.
Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1933 to Mattys and Grace Butterman, who emigrated from the Netherlands, Jane was raised on a farm in rural Jenison, Michigan, along with her sister Geraldine.
Jane’s love of music blossomed early. Discovering composers such as Chopin and Tchaikovsky, Jane learned to play the piano at a young age — a talent she would enjoy throughout her life.
Jane attended Calvin College in Grand Rapids, receiving a bachelor’s degree and a teaching certification in 1955. At Calvin she met John Steenstra, who would become her husband and the love of her life. A newly minted grad, ready to embark on her adult life, Jane moved to New Jersey, where both she and John began teaching at Eastern Christian High School. In 1957, they were married in North Haledon, New Jersey, where they started their family of four daughters.
Jane and John later moved the family to Acton, which became home for more than 30 years. Nature lovers at heart, they enjoyed exploring the beauty of New England with their daughters. Jane was active at Trinity Episcopal Church, singing in the choir, working in the church office for a time, and serving on the vestry. She and John found a wonderful community there, developing a close circle of friends. Their circle of friends also included their wonderful neighbors on Frenchman Bay on the coast of Maine, where they had a summer home for many years.
In addition to raising her daughters, Jane’s professional endeavors included teaching middle school science and working at Digital Equipment Corp. and Arthur D. Little, a management consulting firm.
Jane and John retired to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 1995, during which time they enjoyed traveling in Europe and summers in Maine and especially appreciated that they no longer needed a snowblower. Jane was an active volunteer in retirement, sharing her kindness and compassion with at-risk students she mentored and supporting a local hospice organization.
Imbued with quiet strength, Jane taught her daughters by example to be resilient, gracious, and kind. Through her positive, caring spirit, Jane influenced many as an educator, colleague, volunteer, neighbor, and friend — but none as deeply as she did her family.
She was predeceased by her husband of 51 years, John Steenstra; her parents; and her sister Geraldine Butterman. She will be forever missed and loved by her four daughters Yvonne Gibney of Richmond, Virginia, Erica Steenstra of Venice, California, Leslie Bray of Washington, D.C., and Amy Steenstra of South Portland, Maine; and her grandchildren Rachel Wellford, Jacob Bray, and Olivia Bray.
The family will celebrate Jane in a small, private ceremony. We can all celebrate her with a simple act of enjoying a walk in the woods or planting something in her honor.
