Jane W. MaGinley, NASCAR scoring official
Jane W. MaGinley, a revered woman and resident on the East Coast and the Delaware Valley for most of her life, passed away Monday, Jan. 11, 2021, in Castle Rock, Colo. She was the daughter of Edwin and Emily White, born in Philadelphia Pa., Dec. 8, 1923.
After graduating from Centenary College in Philadelphia, she became a medical records librarian before she married James Barrett Simpler in 1947. Jane and Barrett owned and operated their lumber business, Simpler Lumber Company in Felton. Barrett unfortunately passed away at a young age from a heart attack and Jane continued to operate the lumber yard. She later met Robert T. MaGinley from Lewes and they married in December 1970.
Jane was fortunate to do things most people do not get to experience. She drove the pace car at Daytona and Talladega Speedways for NASCAR races promoting the Dover Downs Motor Speedway in Dover, and was a NASCAR scoring official, scoring NASCAR legends Darrel Waltrip, David Pearson, Richard Childress and Bobby Allison. Jane was an avid bridge player, and enjoyed playing bunko with her friends as well as traveling, ballroom dancing and reading.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 24 years, Robert T. MaGinley. She is survived by her stepdaughters Patricia Schmidlapp of Parker, Colo., Mary MaGinley of Cayuga, N.Y., her nieces Kathy and Dorothy Abbott; her nephew Earl Abbott of Dover; and her grandson Joe Schmidlapp, his wife Tina, and their son Jacoby of Seattle, Wash.
In lieu of a funeral service, the family is requesting donations to the Lewes Fire Department at http://www.lewesfire.com/donate.cfm or by mail, PO Box 225, Lewes, DE 19958.
