Elizabeth Jane Ferandin
May 23, 1935-Aug. 29, 2023
Palo Alto, CA

Elizabeth Jane Tyson Ferandin passed away on August 29, 2023, her 64th wedding anniversary, at her home surrounded by family. Bette-Jane was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on May 23, 1935. She was named for both of her grandmothers. Her family moved around Canada spending most of her young life in Vancouver BC before they moved when she was 17 to Palo Alto, CA, where she finished her senior year at Paly High. Bette-Jane loved California but chose to always keep her beloved Canadian citizenship. She met her future husband John Anthony Ferandin, when he crashed a party that she attended in 1957. Bette-Jane enjoyed working at Stanford and then the AC Nielsen company when in early 1960 her new husband and she moved to LA so John could complete his engineering degree. In 1962 they returned to Palo Alto, with John’s degree and a job for him at NASA, just weeks before Bette-Jane gave birth to their first child, Beth. She chose to be a stay-at-home mother (the best ever) and they had two more children, John and Catherine. The family settled in a beautiful home in Palo Alto where their family thrived. While being the amazing and loving wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend that she was, she was also a room mom, a coach, a leader and President of the PTA. In 1977 Bette-Jane chose to return to work and soon made her way back to Stanford, working at SLAC and eventually becoming the executive assistant to the director of SLAC. She and John put all three children through college, and we like to say “mom has 4 degrees” having worked supporting us all through university. She worked at Stanford for more than 25 years and retired at the age of 72, so she and John could spend more time with grandchildren and on their tugboat, the Shaman. Bette-Jane was a phenomenal chef and baker and showed her love often through food. Her best and most important love was her family. She chose to be cremated and to have the majority of her ashes eventually buried with her loving husband, some scattered in Canada, and in the locations where her parents, Les and Sheila’s ashes were scattered. Bette-Jane is survived by her beloved husband John, daughters (and best friends) Catherine and Beth. Beth’s daughters Lauren and Claire, along with Claire’s husband Nick and their son, Bette-Jane’s great grandson, Dean. Her son John and his wife Sue and children Cate and Jack. She also leaves behind her loving sister, Barbara and wonderful nieces and nephews.