Emma Jane Windle Paynter died on June 27, 2017 at Redding, CT at age 95. She was born January 20, 1922 at West Fallowfield Township, Chester County, PA, daughter of Harold George Windle and Christelle Eckman Jebb. Jane graduated from Cochranville High School in 1940 and from Pennsylvania State University with a BA in Journalism in 1944. She was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority. Following college, she worked as a reporter for the Coatesville (PA) Record until 1945. It was during her time in Coatesville that she met her future husband, William (Bill) Kuen Paynter.  They were married on June 23, 1945 in Coatesville while Bill was on leave from the Navy. He served as a squadron executive and PT boat captain in the Southwest Pacific during World War II.

Bill and Jane lived in Newport, RI, from June to August 1945. Bill began preparing to return to the South Pacific, but the war ended, and they moved to Hartford, CT where they lived until 1947. In 1949, they moved into their first home in Glastonbury, CT. They lived in Chestnut Hill, PA from 1950 until 1952. In 1955, they moved to South Glastonbury, and in 1961, they moved with the three children to New Canaan, CT. They relocated to Annapolis, MD, in 1977 where they lived until 1988 when they moved to Chester, CT. In 2002, they moved to Redding, CT.

After leaving her newspaper work and marrying  Bill, she retained her love for writing and wrote many fictional works and essays over the years. Because of her enjoyment of writing, she joined the Darien Community Association Writers’ Workshop. Although she had held office in the Glastonbury Women’s Republican Club and the League of Women Voters and was active in other organizations (for one, the commission which introduced council-manager government) the Writers’ Workshop was her favorite activity. She gradually withdrew from most of the others to concentrate on writing. She published stories in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and in the EQ anthology of 1984, as well as stories and poems in Wisconsin Review and other literary and general magazines. In 1991, she was elected a director of the Chester Library. The family remembers her pounding away for hours on her Royal portable typewriter and later on a SCM word processor.

She loved music, especially singing, and was a faithful member of various church choirs in the towns the family lived in over the years. Family members remember her practicing her singing in the shower and while vacuuming! She fondly remembered choir leaders and members, whose personalities she described vividly. Some of her best friends were met in these choir groups.

She was an excellent home cook and enjoyed planning meals and cooking. The children remember requesting their favorite dishes like apple pie, chicken-corn soup and tapioca pudding. She was a very traditional family cook, preparing a full dinner every night and Sunday afternoon dinners for the family. She especially encouraged conversations on the topics of the day among all family members at the table.  In later years she was always found in the kitchen during family gatherings, preparing wonderful meals and always pitching in on the dish washing. In their adult years, all 3 kids would regularly call on her for recipe advice. She loved family gatherings and would organize them and work tirelessly to make them special. Any holiday or birthday was a good excuse for the family to gather.

She also loved nature, especially birds and house plants and gardening. She spent countless hours nurturing the plants in her home and the landscape gardens outdoors. Even during the years at Meadow Ridge, she maintained a small outdoor garden and fussed over house plants, producing beautiful flowers. Son John remembers giving her a small gardenia for her birthday one year. By the next year, it was a four foot diameter bush with a dozens of blossoms! She maintained bird feeders at various family homes and worried about the birds’ wellbeing in the winters. A “Peterson’s” field guide was always close at hand.

In retirement years, she discovered her talent as an artist and painted many watercolors, most of which are still in family possession. She was featured in various art shows at Meadow Ridge and in Redding at the Mark Twain Library and won many awards for her work. Many friends will recall her excellent art work. Family members would send her photographs for her to use as subjects for paintings.

The story of her life is that of the American dream. She was born on a small farm in Pennsylvania, raised in the farming life, attended a great college and married the love of her life, Bill Paynter, a decorated WWII Navy veteran and skilled businessman. She lived the suburban family life of a homemaker wife and mother and raised an amazing family. Her legacy will live on in her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was loved dearly by all the family and many friends.

“Jane”, “Mom” and “Grammy” will be sorely missed by family and friends. Happy, vivid memories will live on.

Jane is survived by: daughter Christelle P. Landelius and her husband Len Landelius of New Port Richey, FL; son John W. H. Paynter of Cumberland, ME; and daughter Laura P. Humphrey and her husband Stephen L. Humphrey of Alexandria, VA. There are five grandchildren: Kathryn Landelius Anderson, Carla Landelius D’Imperio, Sarah Humphrey Reinprecht, Laura Abigail Humphrey, and William Stephen Paynter Humphrey. There are five great-grandchildren.

Jane was predeceased by her husband, Bill on June 15, 2009.

A MEMORIAL SERVICE WILL BE HELD on July 29, 2017, 11am, at the Christ Episcopal Church, 184 Cross Hwy, Redding, CT 06896. Interment will be at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.

Donations, in lieu of flowers, may be made to the Meadow Ridge Scholarship Fund, Redding, CT and to The Christ Episcopal Church, Redding, CT. 

 Service Information