Jane Henson, matriarch to Muppets, dies at 78 This 1960 handout photo provided by The Jim Henson Company shows Jane Henson, right, with Jim Henson and the cast of Sam and Friends, in Washington. Jane Henson died in her Connecticut home on April 2, 2013 after a long battle with cancer. / AP Photo/The Jim Henson Company, Del Ankers LOS ANGELES The Jim Henson Co. says Henson's partner in marriage and Muppets has died. The company says Jane Henson died Tuesday at her Connecticut home following a battle with cancer. She was 78. She and Jim Henson met in a University of Maryland puppetry class in the mid-1950s, and they became creative and business partners in the development of the Muppets. The Hensons married in 1959 and had five children: Lisa, Cheryl, Brian, John and Heather. The pair separated in 1986, and Jim Henson died in 1990. In 1992, Jane Henson created and funded The Jim Henson Legacy to preserve his artistic contributions.