Jane Robertson Ryer, 86 – Duxbury Clipper

On Tuesday, April 11, Jane Robertson Ryer, beloved mother, grandmother, and friend passed away at the age of 86.

Jane was born on Jan. 1, 1937 and raised in Winchester, the daughter of Marian Lynch of Dingle, Ireland and Jim Robertson of Pictou, Nova Scotia. She spent many happy summers on Cape Cod and adored working as a lifeguard in West Dennis, where she earned the masses of freckles that were the bane of her existence throughout her life.

She attended Lesley University and was elected president of her class in her senior year. After graduating in 1959, she became a special education teacher in the Cambridge public school system and later went on to earn advanced degrees from Boston University and Harvard. Teaching was both her vocation and her passion and her role as teacher informed the way in which she lived her life – with deep empathy, flexibility, and optimism.  

She met the love of her life, Bill Ryer, at a cocktail party in Back Bay on a snowy evening – where apparently the thing that caught her eye and captured her heart was Bill, slipping on the ice and landing in a heap on his backside, smiling all the while. After a brief stint on Commonwealth Avenue, Jane and Bill moved to Winchester, where they raised their two daughters, Victoria and Scotia.

Life in Winchester was full. Jane went back to teaching, volunteered at the Winchester Hospital and was an avid participant in Town Meetings. But her passion was curling. Jane and Bill spent many a winter night on the ice at the Winchester Country Club. She especially enjoyed trips with friends to curling bonspiels in Montreal and other frozen locales. Jane and Bill (but mainly Jane) hosted endless Christmas Eve parties and crowded Thanksgivings with family and friends and Jane was known for being an exuberant and charming host (though sadly not a great cook).

Jane possessed a remarkable ability to meet new people and always looked forward to a good conversation – with a friend, the mailman, or even a stranger. She forged a genuine connection with everyone she met. She was endlessly curious and unfailingly generous – always interested in learning about people. Strong-willed, but always gracious, Jane was never afraid to tell it like it was. Thankfully, she could talk her way into – or out of – anything.  

When Jane was just 56, she lost Bill suddenly to a heart attack. Bill’s passing was the hardest thing in Jane’s life, but she faced it like she did everything, with bravery, grace, humor and the determination to make the best of things.

After Bill’s passing, Jane moved to Duxbury, where she and Bill had spent many summers. She joined the Garden Club and Flower Guild at St. John’s. She loved a brisk walk on the beach and took great delight in sharing plants with neighbors and friends. She regularly went back and forth to her old haunts in Cambridge and was a frequent visitor to the Museum of Fine Arts and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Passionate about education, she served on the Corporation of Lesley University and was an active member of Development and Fundraising Committees, but she really thrived in her role on the Student Affairs Committee where she engaged with students as a mentor and friend.

Never content to sit still for too long, Jane attended Harvard Extension school in her 70s and traveled all over the world – to Cuba, Europe, China, Peru and Australia. She especially enjoyed her adventures traipsing around Southeast Asia with her daughter, Scotia and her husband, Mike and their children, Niamh and Angus. Her carefree spirit and go-with-the-flow attitude meant that she was never afraid to try new things, and she was always the first to laugh at herself.

But what most people knew and loved about Jane was that her door was always open – to family, friends, friends of friends, kids, dogs, you name it. She loved welcoming people into her home and sitting on the deck late into the evening talking politics or trading stories over a glass of wine.

Fearless supporter, generous listener and straight-talker, inveterate rule-breaker, mischievous partner-in-crime, and giver of practical wisdom, Jane lives on in the memories of her adoring grandchildren, Niamh and Angus Huang, her daughters, Scotia and Vicki, her nephew and niece, Douglas and Juliana Robertson and their families, and countless dear friends who will continue to cherish her and share her story.

A celebration of Jane’s life will be held on July 1 at St. John the Evangelist Church in Duxbury. Bring your stories and your smiles. The sauvignon blanc will be served with ice.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Lesley University, or better yet, go for a brisk walk on the beach with a friend. To sign Jane’s online guestbook, visit Sullivan FuneralHomes.com