Jeane Elaine Cubley

Jeane Elaine Cubley, 82, died on March 26, 2025, after years of several illnesses. She was born on November 26, 1942, the first of five children born to Oliver M. Forester and Ernestine (Evans) Forester in Hutchinson, Kan. Born on Thanksgiving Day, her birthday was always celebrated with pumpkin pie on that day, regardless of the date. She had to move away to nursing school before she got a cake on the exact date of her birthday.

The family moved to Billings, Mont., in 1951, and then to Tucson, Ariz., in 1957.

She attended Catalina High School in Tucson and was a member of the girls rifle team that took 2nd place in the national championships at Camp Perry, Ohio. She graduated in 1960, after taking a Chemistry for Nurses class and finding her life’s work. She attended Good Samaritan Hospital School of Nursing in Phoenix, graduating in 1963.

She moved to Santa Monica, Calif., and immediately began her career. Jeane and Lance Cubley had three sons, Kevin, Ian, and Aidan. In 1975, the family moved to Spokane, Wash., and Jeane became an ER nurse at St. Luke’s Hospital until it became a rehabilitation center.

Several years after Lance’s death in 1987, Jeane moved to the Seattle area and became an agency nurse, working with a select number of area hospitals as a head-of-shift ER nurse on an on-call basis. She was a sought-after substitute in the ER for staff vacations, vacancies and illnesses and never lacked for work. In 2006, a diagnosis of autoimmune liver disease ended her nursing career and Jeane returned to Spokane to be near family.

Jeane was a collector of swans of all types and sizes and had several hundred of them. An excellent seamstress and quilter, she also learned counted thread cross stitch and won ribbons at the Spokane County Fair for her exquisite creations. She stitched until gout robbed her of her dexterity. She was an avid PBS viewer, a rabid reader of sci-fi books and a skilled computer user and gamer.

A member of Job’s Daughters in her youth, Jeane was a long-time member of the Order of Eastern Star and Order of the Amaranth, serving as Royal Matron of Trinity Court.

Jeane was predeceased by her brother Leslie Forester; her son Ian in April of 2024 and son Aidan in March of 2025, and was followed in death by her oldest son Kevin in May, 2025. She is survived by her sisters Florence Young, Spokane; Nancy Carlyle, Bothell; and her brother Douglas Forester, Tucson, Ariz.; eleven grandchildren and one great-grandchild. She was loved and is missed by many.

A Gathering of Friends to remember Jeane will be held on Saturday, April 18 at 11 a.m. at Emmanuel Presbyterian Church, 1926 W. Chelan, Spokane, Wash.