Jane Ellen Northcott
Jane Ellen Northcott, 15, of Plymouth died unexpectedly December 15, 2022.
Jane Ellen Northcott was born August 13, 2007, in Koeln, Germany, to her parents John Boucher Northcott and Heather Ann (Sampson) Northcott. She was a beautiful smiling child who loved books from a young age. She lived the first 4 years of her life traveling Europe, pushed around in a stroller by her mom and dad, with Germany as her home. She welcomed her baby sister Annabelle Eve in 2010, and relished the role of proud and instructive big sister.
The family moved to Plymouth, in 2011, where Jane attended kindergarten at Smith Elementary School. The family relocated to Moscow, Russia, in 2013, where Jane attended first and second grade at the Anglo American School of Moscow.
She enjoyed her time there, swimming at the school, skating or sledding in the cold Russian winters, getting her face painted at Starlite Diner, and starting a theater club with her classmates. She returned with her family to Plymouth in 2015, where she would complete her elementary education at Isbister Elementary. These years as an Isbister Bee, Jane had fun in Girl Scouts, with great support from her mom as a troop leader, and she played softball in GCYBSA.
Jane went on to attend West Middle School, where she enjoyed playing the bassoon in the middle school band, and where she won the National Geographic GeoBee competition for best knowledge of geography amongst all students at West. Jane welcomed her brother Charles Henry December 5, 2017, and grew to deeply love the baby boy. In school, while she was excelling academically, she was introverted, and going into her preteen and teen years, Jane was becoming more socially awkward and at times had difficulty fitting in.
After West, she went on to attend Salem High School. Jane joined the Plymouth Fife and Drum Corps, where she loved to play her fife and march in parades with the other kids, and traveled on tour with the Corps to play at Mt. Rushmore, and in St. Louis, Boston and Connecticut. Jane enjoyed art, music, anime, Asian culture and video games. She loved her family, and she loved traveling.
She attended the Michigan Academy of Tae Kwan Do in Northville, and had just a few weeks back achieved her green belt designation, of which she was very proud. She was also always deeply interested in religions. Recently Jane had begun studying Judaism, and was passionate about protecting the world from anti-Semitism. While she had many interests and a busy calendar, deep inside, Jane felt bleak at times, and had been increasingly struggling with depression. On Thursday, December 15, Jane went upstairs to her room to do homework, and then quietly, with the door closed, she took her own life. She was pronounced dead at St. Mary Hospital in Livonia later that night.
Jane Ellen Northcott, who was a sweet, kind, smart and beautiful girl, was only 15 years old. She was the sunshine and the rain, the falling leaves and the bright white snow, all at once; dear daughter of Heather and John; loving sister of Annabelle and Charlie; granddaughter of Carol Northcott, Martha Jane (Mike) Enochs and Bill Sampson; great-granddaughter of Ron and Pat Sampson; special niece of Becky (Shawn) Biesiada, Rob (Bobbi) Northcott and
Funeral was held at NorthRidge Church, Plymouth, at 49555 N Territorial, Wednesday, December 21. There was visiting and viewing beginning prior to the funeral services. There was also visitation Tuesday, December 20, at the Schrader-Howell Funeral Home, 280 S. Main St., Plymouth. www.schrader-howell.com.
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Make a donation to Society For The Prevention Of Teen Suicide at sptsusa.org in memory of Jane Ellen Northcott.