REACHING HIGHER

BayouIcon Jane Watts lives at the intersection of faith, service and a mother’s devotion to her son’s legacy

ARTICLE BY MICHAEL DEVAULT & PORTRAITS BY KELLY MOORE CLARK

Ross was an avid outdoorsman, a mountain climber, musician, farmer and artist. An adventurous spirit and a heart for service had taken him around the world, where he had been a part of a team teaching English as a second language and mountain rescue skills to Sherpa in Nepal.

“He challenged himself, so anyone who knew him or was in his circle of influence also felt encouraged and challenged to push themselves,” Jane tells BayouLife. “Ross was such a supporter of his friends and of those he worked with.”

It’s that memory of supporting friends, assisting with causes, and inspiring people to become their best selves they can be that led Jane and her family to create the Ross Lynn Charitable Foundation. Even after his passing in 2013, his friends and community still felt the impact of his life on theirs, and they encouraged Jane to share his legacy. In that moment, she began to see all of the threads of her life coalesce into a single endeavor.

Growing up in Farmerville, Jane thought she knew what she wanted in life, but at each step of the way, her willingness to be of service to others seemed to constantly call her. After receiving her degree in fashion merchandising from Louisiana Tech University, she began her work career as a 4-H agent for the LSU Agriculture Center’s Extension Service in Concordia Parish. It was the kind of outward-facing, community service role Jane had grown up experiencing.

“My parents were people of deep faith, who were not only leaders in their professional lives, but also founded and helped form and guide many community organizations of the day, especially those where youth were formed into leaders,” Jane says. Through her parents’ efforts, Jane knew first-hand the value and importance of teaching children and young adults the importance of responsibility–both for self-reliance and to one’s community. “It was no question that my brothers and I were in the middle of all of these groups, and likewise, were being equipped and expected to live our lives in ways that would give back, as well.”

Her parents weren’t just good role models for serving the community. They also helped their children develop a deep, lasting appreciation for people from all walks of life and all corners of the world, lessons that would be valuable later in life when the time came to teach her own children.

“We had the opportunity to learn about other cultures and folks who were different from us, whether our parents were housing dignitaries and foreign research professionals in our home or had us out, serving the underserved in our community,” Jane says.

Raising her children in Caddo Parish, she became a Certified Financial Planner and for many years, Jane’s work was focused in the corporate and financial world. But that began to change slowly.

“Along the way, my path began taking me deeper spiritually toward work within the church, leading retreats and with a renewal ministry in Mississippi, called the Center for Ministry,” she says. “Through the Center, I worked with clergy and church leaders in spiritual practices and self-care, as they tended the soul care of others.”

By then, she was married to Tucker Watts, a forester for International Paper. They had moved to Jackson, and her work in ministry was continuing to grow. Jane was being called to serve, and answer that call she would.

She attended Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, where she completed a Master of the Arts degree in Spiritual Formation. She was also ordained as a Deacon in the United Methodist Church. Jane saw working with the church as a natural progression of the lessons she’d learned from her parents and the lessons she hoped to instill in her children.

Ross and his two siblings–a brother, Newt, and a sister, Lesley–all followed their family’s example of leadership through service. Today, Newt and Lesley, are living out that legacy in service to others in their communities. Newt lives in Shreveport, and Lesley makes her home in Oregon. And, perhaps most importantly, both Newt and Lesley are making sure that living lives of compassion get passed onto the next generation, as they raise their children.
Everywhere Ross went, he made friends easily, finding ways to be helpful to the community he was in, and leaving a mark. During his time as a student at Montana State University – in Bozeman, Montana he began to work with the Alex Lowe Charitable Foundation and Conrad and Jenni Lowe-Anker. Created after an avalanche took the life of world renowned climber Alex Lowe, the ALCF supports humanitarian efforts for indigenous peoples in mountain regions in Nepal. This work combined Ross’s love of climbing and sense of adventure with his heart for service. Wherever Ross went, in fact, he found ways to serve others.

“He was a person of deep inner work and such an inclusive person, always encouraging people he knew,” Jane says.

The impulse to help others was on his mind in August, 2013, while working with his father and brother on the family farm near Gilliam. A motor on a grain elevator went out, and the young electrician tasked with repairing the motor was afraid of heights. Ross grabbed his climbing gear, walked the electrician through the basics of climbing safety, strapped himself and the young man in, and climbed the elevator with him. While the motor repair began, the grain auger malfunctioned striking Ross.

“He was up there to help someone else do their job,” Jane says. “Ross died as he lived, helping others.”

When the decision was made to create a foundation in his memory, Jane knew the programs it offered would revolve around three, core principles: fostering self-discovery, cultivating a sense of purpose and building community. Those principles are what drive each of the foundation’s efforts today.
“Our goal is to see philanthropic work grow and produce positive effects in the communities served–and in those serving,” Jane explains. That means each of the programs the Ross Lynn Charitable Foundation supports must not only impact the community, but also the one serving the community.
For example, earlier this year the foundation launched The Exchange, a member-based organization for nonprofits in North Louisiana that provide ongoing learning opportunities, relationship and coalition building, and resources to help organizations grow stronger and new ones to be formed. The members seek out new models of responses to local social and economic problems, provide opportunities focused on the arts, the sustainable food movement and environmental stewardship.

Another initiative in May saw the foundation send a female chef from North Louisiana to the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. Through an immersive experience in a village in the region, Chef Tootie Morrison of Shreveport learned about community life, as well as agricultural and cooking practices in the area.

“Upon her return, Chef Tootie has shared her discoveries through providing meals to raise funds for the health clinic of the women in the village in Morocco, the ongoing work of the foundation locally, and through cooking classes for local youth in after-school programs, centered around healthy snacks,” Jane says.

Then there is the Resiliency Youth Leadership Project, through which seven local highschoolers traveled to Bozeman, Montana in June. There, they took part in wilderness exploration, mountain climbing, fly fishing, mindfulness practices and leadership exercises. The 2018 expedition was a pilot project for the Ross Lynn Foundation, and through this effort, the organization partnered with other nonprofits, including One Great River, CADA and the Renzi Center.

Closer to home, the foundation is also supporting efforts to grow a network of service-minded individuals and organizations. They are joining Campti Field of Dreams March 7-9 to co-sponsor Back to your Roots 2019: A Sustainable Agriculture Masters Series at Louisiana Tech.

Their 5th Annual BackRoads & Bayous cross-country trail run is May 18th of next year,. Early in November of 2018, they’ll host the 3rd Annual Harvest Dinner, and through Main Street Exchange of Ruston, the organization is helping grow a green-mission shop featuring local artists and artisans works.
“The shop was our first outreach supporting artists’ and makers’ works, featuring fair trade and up-cycled gifts, with all proceeds supporting the foundation’s Exchange project,” Jane says. The shop and its work has led to the creation of the “Shop for Good,” each November, a day bringing awareness and support to local non-profits by Ruston community businesses.

These are just a few of the many activities Jane says will help grow the impact of the Foundation in the community. For the Ross Lynn Charitable Foundation, the works they’re doing are less about a big, splashy event and, instead, focus on impacting the world through a subtle transformation of the people they’re working through and with. That was how Ross entered the world, after all.

“His quiet way of moving in and among those he valued and loved is a great loss to all he touched,” Jane says. “Through the foundation’s programs and offerings, it is our hope that his legacy continues to cultivate compassion and provide opportunity for positive impact.”

For more information on the Ross Lynn Charitable Foundation, or to get involved, visit www.rosslynnfoundation.org. To find out more about the Exchange, go to www.exchangenla.org