Jane “Jenny” Neely Wright, 79, passed peacefully with family at her side on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023.
Born May 6, 1944, Jenny was a beacon of strength and resolve for her family, her students, and her community. Born in Los Angeles, her family relocated to Willoughby, Ohio before moving to Urbanna, where she graduated from Middlesex High School.
In Urbanna, she fell in love with Wayne Wright, who she would marry after his return from the Vietnam War and upon her graduation from the University of Richmond. The two started a family in Roanoke, where she began her teaching career in Physical Education at Glenvar High School.
In 1972, her first child, Christopher, was born followed by Jeffrey in 1974 and Patrick in 1978. Jenny was a devoted mother who became deeply involved in every aspect of her children’s lives and the broader community. During this time, she loved gardening, helping others, and participating in her boys’ athletic, academic, and artistic pursuits.
Jenny spent 23 summers at Camp Wawenock in Raymond, Maine. Wawenock reinforced her love of community and the importance of deep personal connections. Wawenock inspired her life outside of camp, and provided a profound sense of joy, meaning, and refuge. Jenny was a teacher to her core — not the type of teacher who stands at the lectern and professes, but one who leads by example — with patience, curiosity, persistence, kind reinforcement, and a loving touch. As her boys grew into teenagers, She returned to school to achieve a master’s degree in Special Education at Virginia Tech, going to night classes while working at Salem High School, where she taught until her retirement.
The only thing Jenny loved more than her children was her grandchildren. In retirement, she moved to Midcoast Maine, where she could be closer to Patrick’s family and made frequent trips to Monument, Colo. and Richmond to visit Chris and Jeff’s families. Jenny was an avid board gamer and puzzler — she was intensely competitive and doggedly determined to find creative solutions. She saw her family’s geographic dispersion as yet another puzzle to finish. She solved this issue by concocting week-long adventures in six consecutive summers — one with every grandchild mono-a-mono to a different destination of their choosing. On these adventures, she made lasting and unique connections with each.
One of the few blessings of her Parkinson’s diagnosis was that it created a sense of urgency for her to squeeze every ounce of activity out of her body while it would allow. In addition to her grandchild trips, she enjoyed paddling in the Florida keys and Adirondacks with her brother, Tommy, as well as solo trips to Hawaii, Alaska, and a cruise from California to Florida via the Panama Canal, among many other adventures. At home, she could be found jogging the track at the Y, or pedaling the streets of Bath, Maine on her three-wheeled cycle. She continued to be a source of inspiration and strength for everyone who came to know her. A true stoic, and fiercely independent, Jenny defied all odds and expectations leading up to, and including her final days on this earth, all while never letting her disease define or unduly limit her.
She is survived by her three sons Chris (Judi), Jeff (LeeAnne) and Patrick (Jen); and six grandchildren, Natalie, Lydia, Griffin, Lucy, Lily and Sawyer. She is also survived by her siblings, Judy Green (Jimmy) Mary Kay Menefee (Chuck) and Tommy Clarke (Kathy); along with many cousins, nieces, and nephews in her extended family. Her family is eternally grateful for the unending love and devotion provided by the caregivers at the Mooring on Foreside, where she has lived for the past three years. She and her family are comforted by her strong faith in the Episcopal tradition, which she practiced at Christ Church in Roanoke and Grace Episcopal in Bath. A service and celebration of life is planned for the spring.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Camp Wawenock Scholarship Fund at acacamps.org/campership or send a check payable to “ACA Camper Scholarship/Camp Wawenock” to 33 Wawenock Road, Raymond, ME 04071.
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