Jacqueline D. Fearey
Jacqueline Lydia Dwight Fearey (Jackie) of New Canaan, and a resident of Meadow Ridge Senior Living in Redding, Conn., died peacefully in her sleep at Danbury Hospital on Jan. 16, 2016. She was 96.
Born in New York City on May 12, 1919, Jackie was the daughter of Lydia Butler Dwight and Maitland Dwight of New York City and Bedford, N.Y. She attended Chateau Brillantmont elementary school in Lausanne, Switzerland and graduated from the Chapin School in 1937. She then traveled in Europe and North Africa and briefly studied piano in Boston. During WWII, she worked for the English Speaking Union in New York City.
Jackie married Gordon Fearey in 1947 in New York City. They moved to New Canaan, where they raised four children. She was an active parent at New Canaan Country School, logging countless hours of carpooling to the New Canaan Winter Club. Comedy productions at mother-daughter events particularly energized her. Jackie joined the New Canaan Garden Club in 1954, and was a member for 62 years, serving as president from 1980-1982 and as a Garden Club of America director from 1985-1987. For 18 years, in addition to her other Garden Club activities, she organized weekly volunteers to create flower arrangements for the dining tables at Waveny Care Center, an assisted living facility in New Canaan.
Jackie moved to Meadow Ridge after Gordon’s death in 2000. As one of the first residents, she helped to create raised flower beds at the Laurel building and at the Assisted Living Center and for many years was head of the Meadow Ridge Grounds Committee. In her late 80s, Jackie single-handedly planted a perennial river bed of Candelabra Primrose off the woods path behind the Woodland Pond Trail, which remains to this day.
Jackie was fond of decorated hats, and games such as bridge and backgammon. She will be remembered for her zealous – some might say overzealous – participation in charades with her children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. She was also an active tennis player.
Jackie is survived by her four children Lydia Fearey Key, Gordon Fearey Jr., Catherine Lenox Fearey, and David M. Fearey, 10 grandchildren, and 15 great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on May 22, 2016 at St. Mark’s Church in New Canaan.
Memorial gifts may be made to the New Canaan Garden Club () or Heifer International ().
— The Family
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