Sandy Hook resident Jane Conningham, 84, died on July 4 at Masonicare at Newtown. She was born Jane Barton Conningham in Glen Cove, N.Y., to Mary Barton Schultz and Frederic Arthur Conningham, on October 22, 1931.

Ms Conningham grew up in Sea Cliff, N.Y., and later earned a degree in ceramics from Alfred University in New York. She was an accomplished artist and an avid, knowledgeable gardener, having hybridized several day lilies. She taught pottery at the Brookfield Craft Center.

She lived in Sandy Hook for many years, and was married to and divorced from artist Tauno Kauppi.

She volunteered for Newtown Friends of Music. Ms Conningham had a love of nature and art, and was a talented cook who loved to entertain. She had a passionate interest in the Mayan culture and traveled to the Yucatan to visit many sites. She traveled to Peru, Japan, and to Nebraska to witness the migration of the sandhill cranes. She traveled to Louisville, Ky., to see a well-known fireworks display.

Ironically, about two and a half hours after her death on Independence Day, she had a wonderful sendoff of fireworks and perhaps not random gift to her passion. Those that knew her would understand how special that might be for her.

Her sister Barbara Lansing, a niece, and a nephew and his two children survive her.

Funeral arrangements are private.

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