Obituary of Susan Wayne

Susan Strong Wayne of Madison, CT died on Friday May 27, 2016 in Guilford. She was 94. Susan was born on August 5, 1921 in Hartford, CT, the first child of James M. and Sylvia Bolles Strong. She enjoyed her early life living near her grandparents in West Hartford, and spent summers with the entire family in Madison, CT. She lived out her last decades on Strathmore Lane in Madison, near her beloved family summer home on Seaview Avenue. She was proud to be a part of the Madison community for over 90 years. A 1939 graduate of Dana Hall School in Wellesley, Massachusetts, Sue served on its alumnae advisory board for many years. Her own mother, as well as her daughter Nancy Wayne Jaffe and daughter-in-law Pamela Benepe Wayne, were also Dana Hall graduates. Sue married Glenn H. Wayne, Jr. of Waterbury, CT in 1942. Until 1951 they resided in Middletown, CT, where their two oldest children were born. In 1951 they moved to New Castle, DE where their third child was born. While living in Delaware Sue volunteered at the newly founded Delaware Guidance Services for Children and Youth, Inc. as well as at Winterthur Museum with the Junior League of Wilmington. In 1955 Sue and Glenn returned to Connecticut and raised their family in Watertown. Sue became the volunteer treasurer of both The Waterbury Day Nursery and The Watertown Library, and was also very active in the alter guild of Christ Episcopal Church. Sue and her husband Sandy, as he was known, loved spending summers on their property in Stockbridge, VT, where they entertained friends and family from May through New Year’s Day for nearly four decades. She was a member of Christ Church in Bethel VT, and her eight grandchildren were christened in the old, summer church. Sue truly loved caring for others in many capacities throughout her life, and along with her husband Sandy, delighted in supporting the education of their grandchildren. Sue was preceded in death in 2001 by Sandy, her husband of 58 years, and by her sister Jane S. Harter in 2001 and brother James M. Strong, Jr. in 2013. She is survived by her son Richard T. Wayne and his wife Pamela Benepe Wayne of Easton, CT and their children Thayer, Christopher, Elizabeth, and James, her son John S. Wayne and his wife Jennifer of Chestertown, MD and their children Dylan and Emily, and her daughter Nancy Wayne Jaffe and her husband Mark of Shelburne, VT and their children Andrew and Nathan. Sue is also survived by her nieces Jane Strong May and Ann Strong O’Connor, both of Topsfield, MA, and nephew William John Larkin, III of Kennebunk, ME. Other special friends include her house keeper of over 50 years, Doris Barrows of Waterbury, and her caregivers Bella Bedjrah of Groton and Pamela Mae Catalina of East Hampton, CT, whose care and attention enabled Sue to live her final years in the comfort and familiarity of her own home. Arrangements – Funeral services and burial will be held privately in Evergreen Cemetery in Watertown and there are no calling hours. Memorial contributions may be made to Vermont Land Trust, 8 Bailey Avenue, Montpelier, VT 05602. Arrangements are under the direction of Alderson-Ford Funeral Home in Waterbury.