Edward S. Jayne III
March 7, 1934 – January 23, 2026
A Celebration of Life will be held on Friday, May 15, 2026 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Walwood Hall of Western Michigan University, 741 Oakland Dr., Kalamazoo. Memorial contributions may be given to Kalamazoo Loaves and Fishes.
Obituary
Mike Jayne, age 91, passed away at Crystal Woods on January 23, 2026, surrounded by loved ones. He was born in Stamford, CT, the son of the late Edward and Katherine (Higgins) Jayne. Mike loved life and lived it to the fullest. He was intellectually curious and had a passion for learning and teaching. His B.A. and M.A. were from U.C. Berkeley and his PhD in English from SUNY Buffalo. He would spend a career teaching and sharing his knowledge with others at several universities and retired from Western Michigan University. He taught abroad in Germany and Brazil and loved traveling to new and exciting places. He also was gregarious, had a wonderful sense of humor and an infectious laugh. He enjoyed collecting books and his home library was impressive. Additionally, he was the author of three books. Mike was a passionate liberal who enjoyed debating current political affairs. He was one of the founders of the Kal Haven Trail and was delighted that it became a reality. He loved the ocean, conversation with a student or friend, or playing with his dog Maggie. His larger-than-life personality filled the room and he brought joy to those close to him. Above all, Mike loved his family and was a dedicated husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather who took great joy in watching his family grow. Mike will be missed and remembered by all who loved him. On February 14, 1960, he married Elaine (Anderson) Jayne, who survives him. They enjoyed sixty-five years together. He is also survived by a son, Michael Jayne; two daughters, Kristin (Doug Frazier) Jayne, Jenny (Pete Ansel) Jayne; grandchildren, Amelia, Marcella, Max, Cassaundra and Cody Jayne, Zoe and Liza Frazier; Dominic and Lucas Ansel; great-grandchildren, David, Max, Joey, Talulah, Carmelina, Charlie, Atli, Quetzali, Vivi; nieces, nephews, extended family, and friends. He was also preceded in passing by a son, Eric Jayne and brothers, Kirke and Pete Jayne.
My husband and I were discussing influential teachers who brought Shakespeare to life for us and I immediately thought of Mike. Imagine both by joy to learn he loved such a full life, and dismay that I never shared with him my gratitude. I met Mike in 1991 in a Shakespeare class that I took despite it not counting toward my major. It was worth every word I read and wrote that semester. Mike encouraged, challenged, and enjoyed the exploration of literature by his students. He was a delight as a teacher and a joy as a human.
I met Mike in 1982 before ever taking a class of his, as he was a force in the English Dept. @ Western MI Univ. when I was a student there. As an undergraduate a little later in time I had Mike as a professor in a Freudian/Marxian Literary Criticism seminar, which was both lively and learned. He was the most exacting reader I’ve personally met, whose capacious note-taking/self indexing informed my own later reading habits. As a grad student, I was his assistant in Gen. Ed. literature/lecture course for non-majors that spanned the history of Western Literature and attracted more than 50 students each semester. His natural charisma was matched in this setting only by the breadth and depth of the course readings that he chose: The students who signed up for this course were quickly disabused of any anticipation of an easy work load or easy grades. I also took a grad seminar focused on various types of literary criticism au currant (c. 1990). He was my favorite and most influential instructor during the years I was a budding academic. More importantly, however, he was my friend for all those years until his death. He and his wife, Elaine, have been our (Amy’s and my) dear friends over the years. I was fortunate to see Mike one last time the day he died, and I will miss him the rest of my life. He was a dear, erudite, vivacious and funny man, who loved to read, write, collect books, entertain, etc., etc. He was a rarity in this era, and I’m very glad to have known and been friends w/ him.