Jane Boero

Jane Boero was born in Richmond, Yorkshire, England, to Perry and Margerie Skaggs, in a converted room that originally was part of the stables of the local castle. Her father served in the United States Air Force during World War II and was stationed in England, where his primary duty was defusing German bombs. During his service there, he met Jane’s mother, a British citizen.

Following the war and different military reassignments, Jane’s family—by then including her younger brother Robert—moved to the United States.

At the age of 20, Jane married and soon welcomed her first son, Ronald. Her first marriage was brief, and she later moved with her parents to California, eventually settling in Manteca. At the time, Manteca was a small farming town between Stockton and Modesto in the heart of California’s Central Valley.

Jane became a professional hair stylist, though often later mentioned she never enjoyed the work. Pursuing her lifelong love of animals, she took a position at the Manteca Veterinary Hospital. In those years the hospital not only cared for dogs and cats but also served most all of the ranches and farms throughout a large area of the Central Valley. It was there that she met her future husband, Dr. Arthur Boero, the hospital’s longest-serving veterinarian.

In May 1971, Jane and Arthur were married, bringing together her son Ron and Dr. Boero’s three children, Michael, Kathleen, and James. The following year, in February 1972, they welcomed their son Perry.

In the years that followed, Jane devoted much of her time to being a stay-at-home mother while continuing to help at the veterinary hospital when needed. She often assisted her husband during weekend shifts, handled the billing, and for a brief time helped clean the hospital alongside her son Ron.

Jane’s love for animals remained a defining part of her life. Like her husband, she seemed to possess a “whisperer’s” ability with animals of all kinds. It wasn’t uncommon for the Boero’s to take in and adopt stray dogs (over 20 across the years) they found along the road or were abandoned at the veterinary hospital. Horses, goats, cats, dogs, hamsters, fish, various birds (including chickens and a goose named “Gino”) … they all had a place at the Boero’s.

On one occasion Jane discovered an injured baby starling near the horse corrals at her home. She cared for the injured bird for several weeks, nursing it back to health. When the time came to release it, the young bird flew away. Yet for weeks afterward, whenever Jane stepped outside to tend her garden or the corrals, the starling would return, flying in from trees in a neighboring field hundreds of yards away, to perch on her shoulder while she worked.

In 2022, after the passing of her son Ron, Jane moved to Thousand Oaks, California, to be closer to her son Perry. She later made her home at Oakmont Senior Living in nearby Camarillo.

Jane is remembered by her son Perry and her stepchildren Michael, Kathleen, and James. A small private memorial will be held in the coming months for family to remember her.

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