For Jane West, settling in Washburn with her family has been the best way to slow down after a long military career and embrace the simple pleasures of living in a small Aroostook County community.
When West graduated from high school in her hometown of Rosebush, Michigan, she wanted to attend a performing arts college in Virginia, but her parents preferred that she attend the local community college. She instead decided to enlist in the U.S. Navy, where she enjoyed a 20-year career.
She grew up the youngest of 15 children, which meant that West was no stranger to daily chores and routines. But heading out on her own in the Navy helped her to build a greater work ethic and personal drive that have influenced who she is today.
“I was a typical teenager,” she said. “My mom would call me downstairs to help with the dishes and I’d take forever to actually come down. In the military, an average day started with me getting up early, exercising, going to work by 7 and not leaving until 4:30 or 5 that night. It gave me much more personal discipline.”
During her early years in the Navy, West worked as an aviation electronics technician, repairing radios, radar equipment and other tools essential for daily operations. She later served as the manager for maintenance offices at the Navy bases for which she was stationed.
At various times in her career she lived and worked in Pennsylvania, Florida, Washington, D.C., Louisiana, Washington state and Virginia and, for a brief period, in Iceland.
She first met her husband, Mike, a native of New York, in 2012 while both were living in Louisiana, after he had already retired from his Navy career as a ship engineer. When she retired, the couple decided to move to Washburn after learning more about Aroostook County from Mike’s brother, who lives in Perham.
Neither Jane nor Mike had ever lived in Maine before, but she liked that Washburn is similar to the town that she grew up in. West remembers Rosebush as a place where “everybody knows everybody,” and she wanted her three children — Jackie, 20, Joey, 16, and Jasmine, 15 — to experience a similar lifestyle.
“When you’re in the military you move every three or four years. I wanted my kids to know about life away from the big cities and get a chance to make more friends,” she said.
These days West enjoys tending to a large garden that includes green beans, corn, beets, garlic, asparagus, rutabagas, strawberries, carrots and onions, as well as raising 100 laying hens, three roosters, two goats and three piglets.
Within the community, she also substitute teaches for the Washburn School District and volunteers during fundraisers for Boy Scout Troop 117, of which her son Joey is a member.
West said some of her fondest memories of living in Washburn have involved time spent riding local ATV and snowmobile trails, the slow pace of life, and enjoying Aroostook County’s four seasons and the beautiful nature that exists in her own backyard. But perhaps the best part about the region, she said, has been growing strong friendships with her neighbors and fellow community members.
“It’s like finding and building a new family,” West said, about living in Washburn. “There’s a sense of completeness, a feeling that everyone accepts us into their community.”
