Janet Wallace Ley, 83
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - Janet Wallace Ley, 83, of Sweetwood of Williamstown, 1611 Cold Spring Road, died peacefully on Monday, March 31, 2014, at Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield.
Born in New York City on March 22, 1931, daughter Frederick A. and Janet Sabine Ley, she was adopted by her father's wife, Janet Upjohn, after the death of her mother. She graduated magna cum laude in 1952 from Smith College, where she majored in art history
Mrs. Ley had been a docent at the Clark Art Institute for 10 years until her retirement.
She was an honorary member of the Rotary Club of Williamstown and was awarded a Paul Harris Fellow for her philanthropic work. Many scholarships have been awarded to college-bound seniors on her behalf. She was known as a generous, caring lady with a warm sense of humor. Her greatest joy in life was to quietly help others.
Her first husband, Andrew W. Alkiewicz, late of Ridgefield, Conn., and Nevis Island, is deceased.
She and her husband, Fred Ley, were married in 1982 and moved to Williamstown, where they maintained a noted portion of Mount Hope Farm on Green River Road as their residence for 33 years. In 2007, they became residents of Sweetwood.
Besides her husband of 32 years, she leaves a daughter, Maria Penberthy and her husband, Edward; two sons, Mark Alkiewicz and his wife, Jennifer, and Christopher Alkiewicz and his wife, Faye; three sisters, Janet Beck, Gae Eisenhardt and Robin Munn; three grandchildren, Kristen Penberthy, Elizabeth Penberthy and Andre Alkiewicz, and a "walk-in daughter," as Mrs. Ley loved to call her, Hania Williams and her husband, Patrick, and their daughters, Nicole Smalley and Kristina Williams.
FUNERAL NOTICE - A memorial service for Mrs. Ley will be held on Saturday, April 5, at 11 a.m. from Flynn & Dagnoli-Montagna Home for Funerals, West Chapels, 521 West Main St., North Adams. Burial will be private.
A calling hour will be held Saturday morning from 10 to until 11 at the funeral home. Memorial contributions may be made to the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute or to the Rotary Club of Williamstown Foundation Inc. in care of the funeral home.