Jane Maury Denton – United States Navy Spouse

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30 November 2007:

A memorial mass will be held Saturday in Mobile for Jane Maury Denton, the wife of former Vietnam prisoner of war and ex-U.S. Senator Jeremiah Denton Jr.

She died November 22, 2007 at a Norfolk, Virginia. hospital from heart attack complications. She was 81.

The memorial in her hometown will be held at St. Ignatius Church. Funeral services will be held at Arlington National Cemetery on December 10, 2007, following a mass at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Washington, D.C., according to H.D. Oliver Funeral Apartments in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Denton helped organize the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia in the 1960s, after her husband, a Navy pilot, was shot down and captured in 1965. He was held for nearly eight years in a North Vietnamese prison.

He was elected in 1980 to the U.S. Senate. A Republican, he served one term.

The Dentons, who lived in a home south of Mobile, Alabama, for more than 30 years, moved to Williamsburg, Virginia, in September.

23 November 2007:

Jane Maury Denton, the wife of former Vietnam prisoner of war and ex-U.S. Senator Jeremiah Denton Jr., died Thursday at a Norfolk, Virginia, hospital from heart attack complications, family members said. She was 81.

Denton, who had a heart attack on October 28, 2007, helped organize the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia in the 1960s, after her Navy pilot husband was shot down and captured in 1965. He was held for nearly eight years in a North Vietnamese prison.

Jane Denton’s advocacy work was credited for the group’s efforts in obtaining humane treatment and the ultimate release of American prisoners.

Her husband drew international attention in 1966 when he was being interviewed on North Vietnamese television. He blinked in Morse code the letters “t-o-r-t-u-r-e,” letting U.S. intelligence officials know what was happening to the prisoners.

Denton, who retired as a Rear Admiral in 1973, was elected in 1980 to the U.S. Senate. A Republican, he served one term. The Dentons lived in a home south of Mobile, Alabama, on Fowl River for more than 30 years. In September, the couple moved to Williamsburg, Virginia.

Michael Denton, one of the couple’s seven children, said his mother was “the most faithful, selfless and dedicated wife and mother that any of us can aspire to be.” He said she cherished the people of her native Mobile, her Catholic faith and her Navy family.

“She never stopped giving,” another son, William Denton, said.

She will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. A memorial service in Mobile is being planned, but details were incomplete Friday.

Besides her husband, Denton is survived by seven children, Jeremiah Denton III of Virginia Beach, Virginia, Donald Denton of Philadelphia, James Denton of Washington, D.C., William Denton of Williamsburg, Virginia, Madeleine Doak of Houston, Michael Denton of Richmond, Virginia, and Mary Denton Lewis of Atlanta; one sister, Madeleine McPhillips of Mobile; 14 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

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