Jane B. Mudge, age 84, of Mansfield, PA, passed away on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, at Misericordia Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, in York, PA.
Jane lived her life with high expectations, quiet service, impeccable style, and an enduring devotion to family, education, and the community she called home.
Jane’s story began on a farm in Breinigsville where hard work was simply part of everyday life. She picked potatoes and tomatoes alongside migrant workers, and the farm and its animals helped sustain the family. She was active in 4-H, youth group, and marching band, and she and her sister, Anne, even made their own clothes. Ella and Elmer Bennighoff, her parents, led by example. Both farmers by nature, they later became a shoe factory worker and a truck driver. Resourcefulness, a strong work ethic, and service to others were woven into the fabric of her upbringing. These were the secrets of Jane’s youth—perhaps surprising to those who knew her later as the refined, elegant woman who was always “dressed to the nines,” with beautiful nails, polished manners, and a wardrobe that frequently earned her the unofficial distinction of best-dressed teacher.
Jane began her own education in a one-room schoolhouse and became the first in her family to leave home to attend college. She enrolled at Mansfield State College as a home economics major before discovering her true calling in elementary education. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Mansfield and later continued her education at Elmira College, earning a master’s degree in primary education. Her devotion to Mansfield State College never left her; years later, she would serve as president of the Mansfield University Alumni Association. Jane and Terry were also significant contributors to the restoration of North Hall, formerly her dormitory which was converted to a state-of-the-art library.
Her entire teaching career was spent at Warren L. Miller Elementary School, where generations of Mansfield children came to know Mrs. Mudge. Over the years she taught second, fourth, fifth, and sixth grades, always maintaining that each age brought its own challenges and rewards. Her standards were high, and she expected her students to rise to them. Yet those expectations were accompanied by relationships, respect, and a genuine commitment to preparing children for what came next.
Mrs. Mudge had presence—particularly in the sixth-grade classroom. Much of her teaching took place where she believed a teacher belonged: at the front of the room, at the board, preparing her students for junior high. Those students may also remember one of her signature habits. As she taught, she would roll a piece of chalk between her fingers, producing a distinctive little click as it struck her black onyx ring. The clicking chalk, the beautiful nails, the sharp clothes, and that unmistakable Mrs. Mudge demeanor made quite a combination. She was, in the very best sense, a force to be reckoned with.
Jane married Terry Mudge, a native of Mansfield, and was warmly welcomed into the Mudge family. David, Jim and Cindy, Terry’s siblings, became her own. Irene and Stub became her surrogate parents. Despite being an excellent cook, Jane had to prove her capabilities to Irene. Until that time, she was relegated to providing dinner rolls for holiday meals. Together, Jane and Terry built their own family around many of the same principles that had shaped her childhood: work hard, contribute, take care of one another, and do what needs to be done. Jane was a strong and sometimes strict mother. Chores were assigned and expected to be completed. Television was limited. Outside was our playground. Three meals a day mattered, and the family sat down at the table together. Summers brought canning and freezing, wonderful homemade tomato sauce, and pies that became legendary.
The Mudge household was not one where every emotion was endlessly discussed, or every feeling put into words. Love did not need to be announced; it was simply ever present. Like the generations before her, Jane expressed it by doing. She cooked. She sewed. She taught. She showed up. She took care of people. Service was her love language.
Jane and Terry recently celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary. They shared a deep affection for Mansfield and treasured their life there—their home, their friends and family, visits with their children and grandchildren, and opportunities to see the wider world together. They especially enjoyed their travels to Germany and Austria. One of Jane’s most extraordinary journeys took her much farther east, to Siberia, where she met Peter, the grandson who would become the first of a new generation in her family.
Jane was deeply woven into the life of Mansfield, although rarely with fanfare. She simply saw something that needed doing and did it. She helped with Santa’s Gift Bag and the Shoe Bank. At Mansfield Methodist Church, she served as a liturgist and taught Vacation Bible School. She chaperoned the high school ski club and even accompanied students on a high school trip to Germany. She spent years keeping the books for Mansfield’s girls’ and boys’ basketball teams, service for which she was inducted into the Tioga County Sports Hall of Fame, and she served as a timer for the high school track teams. When someone asked Jane to help, her answer was usually quite simple: yes. Community service was not something she talked about. It was something she practiced.
Later in life, Jane returned with enthusiasm to the sewing skills of her youth and took up quilting. She loved to read and remained an avid sports fan. She was also remarkably competitive. Uno, Trivial Pursuit, and even Candyland were apparently serious business when Jane Mudge was playing. For roughly 35 years, she could also be seen walking the perimeter of Mansfield five evenings a week with her friends—a familiar figure on the streets of the town she loved.
Above all, Jane loved her family. She adored her children and grandchildren and shared with them her lifelong love of children’s literature. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was a holiday favorite in her classroom, and treasured family memories include Jane and her sister Anne reading The Night Before Christmas in Pennsylvania Dutch dialect. Through the years, the Mudge and Bennighoff families became one extended family, and their gatherings were filled with tradition, laughter, good food, stories, and the joy of simply being together.
Jane leaves behind a legacy that is difficult to capture in titles or accomplishments alone. It lives in the students she challenged to do their best, the community she quietly served, the family traditions she maintained, the meals she placed on the table, the pies she baked, the miles she walked, the books she read to children, and the countless times she answered “yes” when someone needed her.
She is survived by her husband of 64 years, Terry Mudge, now of Willow Valley in Lancaster, Pennsylvania; her daughter, Kim and her spouse Jerry, and grandson Peter; and her son, Brad and his wife, Leslie, and grandsons Jacob and Joshua, Anne and Jay Young and family, Frank and Sandy Bennighoff and family, Jim and Mary Mudge and family, Cindy and Steve Zientek and family.
In lieu of flowers, contributions in Jane’s memory may be made to the Mansfield High School Athletic Association, Mansfield University’s North Hall Library, or the Mansfield History Center.
For those fortunate enough to have known Mrs. Mudge—as a wife, mother, grandmother, sister, teacher, colleague, neighbor, or friend—perhaps one of her familiar expressions is the most fitting way to say goodbye:
“See you later, alligator. After a while, crocodile.”
Friends and family are invited to call from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM on Saturday, September 26, 2026, at the First United Methodist Church, 67 E. Wellsboro St., Mansfield, PA. A funeral service will immediately follow at 3:00 PM with Pastor Candace Chase officiating. A private burial will take place in Oakwood Cemetery, Mansfield, PA. Services are under the direction of Buckheit Funeral Chapel and Crematory, Inc., 637 S. Main St., Mansfield, PA. www.buckheitfcandcrematory.com.
