Jane Hinshaw

Jane Simpson Hinshaw died peacefully at her home on July 11, 2019.An elegant and multi-talented woman, Jane had careers as a school teacher, a homemaker, an anthropologist, and an award-winning editor. Born in Texarkana in 1936, Jane married Elton Hinshaw after graduating from Baylor University, and they made Nashville their home beginning in the late 1950s.After raising three children, she received her Masters of Anthropology from Vanderbilt and went on to head major historical excavations around Tennessee, including Traveler’s Rest, The Hermitage, Belle Meade Plantation, the Ryman home, and Thomas Sevier’s home. Her research is still used at most of these sites.Jane had a boundless curiosity and thirst for knowledge, which led her to travel to over fifty countries. These journeys influenced her work as a cookbook editor for Famous Recipes Press, where her work garnered the 1999 IACP Julia Child Award and the 2001 James Beard Foundation National Winner award. Jane was an exemplar of that generation of women who were inspirational cooks, gardeners, and seamstresses as well as multi-careered wives and mothers, deeply active within their communities.In the 2000s she became Volunteer of the Year for her work as a volunteer chaplain for Vanderbilt Medical Center, and she was profoundly committed to her church as well, Immanuel Baptist, and its many charitable projects.She loved this world and approached life with immense gusto, joy, and courage, and she leaves a wide circle of loving friends and family.Preceded in death by her husband of 60 years, Jane’s surviving children are Stephen Hinshaw, Becky Hinshaw Eagleton, and Carroll Nail. Her and Elton’s deeply adored grandchildren are Raleigh Dale, Jane Eagleton, Alexandria Nail, Lily Eagleton, and Sam Eagleton. Her beloved extended family includes the Hinshaw families in Arkansas and Texas and the McDonald families in Austin.Jane’s life will be celebrated at a private service at her church. Condolences can be sent care of her home.