Jane Rauscher Elliott

Jane R. Elliott NEWPORT — Jane Rauscher Elliott, 87, died Jan. 23, 2022, at Kirkwood Corners in Lee, New Hampshire. Jane was born Feb. 19, 1934, in Maplewood, New Jersey, the daughter of Dolson Walter Rauscher and Francis Burnett Rauscher. Schooled in Maplewood, Jane spent her youthful summers at Culver Lake in northwest New Jersey. This is where she was first introduced to horses, her lifelong love. After graduating from Kent Place School in 1952, she attended Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, as a member of the equestrian program. She graduated in 1956 and settled in the Amherst region to pursue a career as a public-school teacher in local elementary schools. She eventually earned her master’s in Education at UMass Amherst. During the post-college period before her marriage (1956-1969), Jane was a force in the New England Morgan Horse community. Among many special horses in her life, she and Lady Roxanna “Roxie” reached the pinnacle of the Morgan world with a national Pleasure Driving championship in 1968. She also bred German shepherds and cocker spaniels and trained several accomplished show dogs. Jane met Lt. Colonel Louie C. Elliott at the nearby Westover Air Force Base and married in 1969. In 1971, they moved to a 100-acre horse farm on Pike Hill in Newport, New Hampshire, where they raised two sons, William and Thomas. Jane lived on Pike Hill for 47 years. She managed several horses while also serving as a volunteer leader in local arts and cultural organizations. She helped establish a pottery studio at the Newport Library Arts Center, as well as a children’s art exhibit for more than 100 pieces of work by local preschoolers. As her sons entered school, Jane also began hosting day-long farm field day picnics for local children. Over a decade stretch, more than 300 students bussed to Pike Hill each June for scavenger hunts and horse carriage rides. In 1980, Jane organized the Newport Carriage Festival, a nationally recognized event that attracted horse teams from as far away as California and Canada. Unlike typical horse shows, the festival featured unique competitions involving any type of horse-drawn vehicle. The parade down Main Street included the Country Sheriff’s Mounted Posse alongside local farmers with old hay rakes and snow rollers. Over 300 Newporters volunteered to host the Columbus Day weekend event. The Newport Chamber of Commerce awarded Jane with a Woman of Achievement Award for bringing a new dimension to the quality of life in town. A second Newport Carriage Festival in 1982 drew 5,000 people. Dusty, Jane’s Shetland, won for “Best Pony.” Over the years, Jane and Dusty became a local celebrity to many children who enjoyed free carriage rides offered at various community events. Dusty also made the front page of the local Argus Champion due to her participation in a live Christmastime creche organized by Jane in downtown Newport, replete with live sheep and a baby donkey. Jane served as treasurer of the Newport Youth Activities Organization from 1982 to 1984, where she led initiatives to join the National Little League and to offer free physicals to the league’s 140+ ballplayers. Jane also decided to learn golf so she could compete in the Friday night couples Wing Dings, Ladies Twilight League, and the annual Member-Guest Golf Tournament. She won a special prize at the Chamber of Commerce’s tournament for the longest drive by a woman. The drive involved hooking her ball into the public Unity Road, where it became trapped under a passing dump truck. After bouncing under the truck’s bed for over 100 yards, her ball spit back on to the fairway for a +300-yard assisted (but legal) winning drive. In the mid-’80s, Jane returned to public school teaching in Unity, New Hampshire, where she taught fourth, fifth and sixth grades for more than a decade. Particularly memorable was her annual production of a class play titled “Events in the Life of George Washington.” In the decades that followed, former actors would regularly approach Jane (and even her son) to reminiscence and say thanks for her caring investment in their young lives. After retiring from teaching, Jane enjoyed impressive second acts in both the arts and Morgan Horse communities. She studied theorem painting, watercolors and line ink drawing to become an exhibiting artist. Her annual farm-themed Christmas cards delighted an ever-growing list of friends and admirers. Jane also owned several outstanding Morgans, including Stone’s Throw Contessa, a Reserve World Champion at the 2010 Morgan Grand National and World Championship. Perhaps her most cherished Morgan of this era was Catch a Cloud, a foal born to Tiger Lily on Pike Hill in 2008. Named after Jane’s favorite movie “The Sound of Music,” “Abbey” still thrives as a photogenic trail rider in Vermont today. Jane was predeceased by her parents; her brother, Walter Burnett Rauscher; and her husband, Louie C. Elliott. She is survived by her two sons and their families, William Rauscher Elliott, his wife, Maria, and their children, Calvin, Volney and Brooke, all of Sterling, Virginia; and Thomas Dolson Elliott, his wife, Jennifer, and their son, Bearnard, all of Durham, New Hampshire; as well as her nephews, Jeffrey and David, and niece, Nancy Rauscher. A funeral service and interment will take place in Arlington National Cemetery in the fall of 2022. Family and friends will be invited to attend. Gifts in her memory can be made to the Newport Library Arts Center. Assisting the family with arrangements is the Cremation Society of New Hampshire. To view Jane’s Online Tribute, send condolences to the family, or for more information, visit www.csnh.com