Jane Norton Cleary, of Stratham, NH. was born on May 1st 1920; died December 22nd 2014. She was the wife of D. Edward Cleary, of Gloucester, with whom she made a home and family after marriage in 1945.

Jane grew up in Belmont, MA. and attended Belmont schools from Kindergarten through high school, graduating from Belmont High in 1938; Westbrook Junior College in 1940 and Cornell University in 1942.

She then commenced life as an Army wife during WWII, as her husband was in the U. S Army Dental Corps, until the late 1940s after which time she lived with her family in Concord, MA, where her husband established a dental practice.

She was proud of her role as a wife, mother and home-maker.

She treasured her experience of Summering on Chebeague Island, Maine with her parents, brother and sister, as well as uncles, aunts and family friends, beginning as an infant in 1920 and continuing until about the time of WW II. Vacations on the island were resumed in the late 1950s and 1960s.

In addition to being a devoted and loving wife and mother, Jane had a facility for friendship, whether as an Army wife; resident of Concord, MA from 1947 - 1989; and while living with her husband in Stratham, NH commencing in 1989 with their retirement

She enjoyed participating in garden, book and contract bridge clubs, some of which hobbies and interests she pursued while her husband was stationed in Texas in WW II; in Concord, MA; and continuing with those interests and activities after she and Edward moved in retirement to Stratham, NH.
Jane was employed by the Waltham, MA department store, Grover-Cronin, immediately following college graduation, and before marrying. Late in life she resumed employment as an office manager working for the Petersen family of Concord, in their business of crafting and marketing world-wide collectible figurines, which included the Wee Forest Folk line.

She was a long-time member of the Republican Party; the Inde-Cott Garden Club, and Antiquarian Society, both of Concord, MA; the Seacoast Newcomers, of New Hampshire, of which organization she served as Chairman, and as a participant in Rotary Club activities, which organization Edward Cleary was a long-time member of and past Concord, Massachusetts president of.

She leaves her son, Paul W. Cleary, of Maynard, MA and Chebeague Island, Maine; Russell E. Cleary, of Maynard, MA; Susan Cleary Rittgers, of Stratham, NH; grandsons Paul Edward Cleary, of Elko, Nevada, and his wife, Tricia, their three children, Austin, Aaron and Aydan; and Daniel Robert Cleary, and his wife, Maegen Rzasa-Cleary of Toluca Lake, CA.; niece Judith Troy Baron, and her husband Dennis Baron, of Stratham, NH, and their daughter, Elizabeth, of Washington, D.C.; nephew John G. Troy, and his wife Sandra, and their children, William Troy, and Amy Troy, of Longview, Texas, as well as the many friends whose company treasured so highly.


Calling hours will be held on Friday, December 26, 2014 from 4:00-6:00 PM at the Brewitt Funeral Home, 14 Pine St., Exeter, NH.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Saturday, December 27, 2014 at 10:00 AM at St. Michael Church, 9 Lincoln St., Exeter, NH.
Burial will follow in the Locust Grove Cemetery, Rockport, MA.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project, PO Box 758517, Topeka, KS. 66675 or NH Association for the Blind, 25 Walker St., Concord, NH 03301.
For more information, please visit www.brewittfuneralhome.com

jane
Jane (on left); her sister "Nan" Norton Troy (middle) and Bette Jenks, who was Mary Jenks Doughty's younger sister, and "Boopie" Doughty's aunt (on right), taken at "Sunnyside".