Jane Isabella Austin

Jane Isabella Austin, born on October 26, 1947, left this world on September 13, 2025, surrounded by a community of strong women who loved and respected her deeply. She passed away peacefully in hospice care just 3 weeks after receiving a diagnosis of Stage 4 metastatic cancer.

Jane's life was a testament to compassion and dedication, a soul driven by her desire to help every person feel deeply loved and to help them heal from any trauma they may have experienced in their lifetime.

Jane was born in St. Louis, Missouri and as a little girl moved with her family to Florence, Alabama where her father worked on the Tennessee Valley Authority project, while her mother taught elementary school. The family lived in a home right on the Tennessee River.

Jane attended Coffee High School in Florence and played clarinet in the marching band and was active in the Girl Scouts. She later attended the University of Tennessee where she received a Masters in Social Work and then worked at a psychiatric hospital that served adolescent youth. That work inspired Jane to move to Eugene, Oregon so she could pursue a second masters degree in special education from the University of Oregon. She wanted to be able to address both the academic as well as the social/emotional needs of the children and youth she worked with.

While in Eugene she met and married Michael (Mike) Sondgeroth, and together they adopted their son Mike and continued to work together through the years to support Mike as he grew, even after their amicable divorce. They have both said that adopting Mike "was the best thing we ever did".

Jane taught students in special education in elementary and high schools in Eugene and later in Tucson, AZ. She then worked for several years with the Casey Family Programs, which supports families that foster children. That work briefly took her to San Diego where she was instrumental in starting the Behavioral Health Program for Kaiser Permanente. She eventually returned to Tucson to be with her mother, who moved to Arizona after her retirement from teaching.

Jane's continued interest in providing therapeutic and coaching support to clients led her to extend her initial MSW training by studying psychodrama with Dena Baumgartner in Tucson and then Somatic Experiencing (SE) with Peter Levine in Brazil. She became a trainer in both these healing methods. Using a combination of psychodrama and SE and other methods Jane was able to provide deep healing from trauma as she continued working with children, families, couples and individual adults until a week before her death. Her ability to connect with individuals facing immense challenges allowed her to make an incredible impact on those she served, embodying the very essence of empathy and kindness.

When Jane learned that there was an opportunity to use her training and expertise with soldiers on active duty, she eagerly joined the MFLC program (Military Family Life Consultant) and served on several bases in the U.S. and Germany. A dear friend and colleague of Jane's, Milton Hawkins, who also worked as an MFLC, said that Jane told him "We have the privilege to support our miliary community who are bruised (traumatized) but not broken. Let's help them return home and reconnect to the love they deserve." For this work, in 2010 Jane earned several awards including the Honorable Order of Molly Pitcher which recognizes individuals who have contributed in a significant way to the improvement of the Air Defense Artillery Community.

Along with her teaching and her passion for helping others through counseling and coaching, Jane had a deep interest in writing. She often introduced herself as a writer to people she met. Her desire to seriously pursue writing was one of the reasons she was drawn to living in Durham. Jane worked with Darnell Armoult as a writing teacher and coach. She was an avid member of the Table Rock Writing Community. Jane had been working on two memoirs recently, one about the trauma work she did as an MFLC with the US Military and the other about her childhood and her family's troubled history in the midwest.

Jane learned Transcendental Meditation in her 20s and continued a meditation practice her entire life. She spent much of her adult life on a continuous spiritual journey. She especially valued the teachings of the Vietnamese Buddhist monk and activist Tich Nhat Hanh. 

She loved her dogs, and being in nature-- from Oregon's old growth forests to the ocean beaches in Oregon and North Carolina, and the amazing Sonoran desert in Arizona with the vast saguaro forests. She had wonderful memories of canoeing on the boundary waters in northern MN. She loved the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee and the music of the Appalachian mountain people. She deeply loved her many friends and her son Mike.

Jane was preceded in death by her father Bruce Vernel Watson, mother Mary Louise Austin Watson, and her brother Bruce Evert Watson. She is survived by her son Michael (Mike) Sondgeroth, her nephews Daniel Watson, William Watson, and John (Jack) Watson, and her dog Duffy, along with many friends in Oregon, Washington, Arizona, North Carolina and beyond.

Jane's passion for helping others and her wonderful spirit will be missed deeply, yet celebrated endlessly. In her memory, we hold close the lessons she taught us about compassion, balance, the power of community and the importance of love and forgiveness.

In lieu of flowers, cards or other gifts, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to RCWMS: Resource Center for Women & Ministry in the South which strives to weave feminism and spirituality into a vision of justice for the world.   https://rcwms.org/donate/

We will miss you, Jane.