Obituary of Janet R. Aley

WESTPORT, CONN Janet Ramsey Aley, a native of Westport and widow of Jonathan Aley, died peacefully at home on July 21, 2024. She was 98 years, 2 months, and 2 days old. She was a kind, warm, intelligent, creative person, with a twinkle in her eye and a whimsical sense of humor. She always provided for her family. She loved life and all it included: family, friends, children, pets, nature, art, music, and travels with her family. She found wonder and joy in wordplay, poetry, song, and the view out her back window. She will be greatly missed. Born in 1926, the daughter of the late Alice Harvey and Charles H. Ramsey, she attended Westport schools and was a 1944 graduate of the Thomas School in Rowayton, CT. As a student at Bedford Elementary School (now the Westport Town Hall), Janet was one of several children chosen by the WPA artist Robert L. Lambdin to pose for the three-part mural, “The Spirit of Adventure” (circa 1934), that still graces the walls of the hallway outside the auditorium. Janet is the young blonde girl holding a tennis racket at the far right. Janet attended Black Mountain College in North Carolina, the only such person never to have become famous, as she liked to quip. Subsequently, she became the Society Editor of the Westport Town Crier newspaper, leaving that post in the summer of 1948 to join an American Youth Hostel Work Group that traveled to the Netherlands to repair bicycle roads that were bombed during World War II on the island of Ameland, off the northern coast of Holland. Following her marriage in 1948 to Robert Jonathan Aley, whom she met through their mutual cello teacher, Janet worked for seven years in the promotion-merchandising department at Look Magazine, where she refused the job of department head in favor of motherhood. As Jon and Janet’s family grew, the Aleys moved from Manhattan to Silvermine in 1956 and then to Rowayton in 1957. In 1960 they returned to Westport, where they raised their family. Janet volunteered for or served on the boards of many Westport organizations, including PTAs, Intercommunity Camp, the Interfaith Housing Program, the Arts Council, and the Westport-Weston Counseling Service, primarily in producing publicity and newsletters. For many years, she also volunteered with the Oral History Department of the Westport Historical Society. After the blow of her husband’s sudden death in 1974, Janet reinvented herself. She returned to work, first in the Westport Selectman’s office, and later in the Westport Planning and Zoning Department. From 1983-1988, she was an Assistant Town Clerk and Secretary for the Planning and Zoning Commission at Weston Town Hall. Upon her retirement in 1988, she joined the Democratic Women of Westport, where she served as board co-president with Sue Atkinson. She was a recipient of the organization’s annual Silver Donkey Award and regularly rode with DWW in Westport’s Memorial Day Parade. As Janet entered her 90s she often liked to joke that although she had already lived to a ripe old age, she would like to stick around longer to see what happened next. Janet is survived by her four children: Jennifer Aley (Steve Gold), Judith Aley, Judson Ramsey Aley (Maria Cheung) and Jonathan Harvey Aley (Ellen Louer); her grandchildren Nathanael Jonathan Ranson, Ruby Alice Ranson, and Dylan Tam (Alex McClaren). In addition to her husband, she was pre-deceased by her daughter Judy’s husband Paul Ranson, her brother, Charles Harvey Ramsey, and, most recently, her beloved cat Katie. Services will be held on September 21, 2024, at 1:30 PM at the Saugatuck Congregational Church in Westport. Donations in Janet’s name can be made to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Homes with Hope (formerly Interfaith Housing Association of Westport), or PAWS (Pet Animal Welfare Society). Interment will be held on Friday, July 26, 2024 at 12:00PM in Willowbrook Cemetery, 395 Main Street, Westport. The Harding's of Westport are directing the arrangements.