Jane E. (Dunham) Linck
December 10, 2011

Jane Elodie Linck, 87, died December 10, 2011 at Glens Falls Hospital.  
Born in Schenectady, NY, on December 17, 1923, she was one of five children of Elodie Blanche (Johnson) and Roy O. Dunham, an engineer with General Electric Company.  She attended Scotia High School and a first year at Syracuse University before her pursuit of a Bachelor’s Degree in music education was cut short by U.S. entry into World War II and her sudden engagement to George W. Linck, also of Scotia, who would serve as an officer on a P.T. boat in the South Pacific.
Following the birth of their first son and the end of WWII, Jane and George lived briefly in Cortland, NY, where their second son was born and where George taught in the Phys. Ed. program at SUNY College at Cortland. In 1947, the family moved to West Point, NY, where Jane would bear four more sons and George would serve for thirty-three years as a civilian Phys. Ed. instructor of Army cadets at the United States Military Academy.    
Jane’s fine musical talents – particularly in voice – found joyful, satisfying outlets at West Point… counterbalancing the long-played-out disappointment she surely suffered (though admirably and stoically) over the fact that not one of her six sons would display even a shred of her ability. For decades she was a member of the West Point Wives’ Glee Club, singing also in the Post Chapel choir and as a chorus member in area productions of Brigadoon, Camelot and South Pacific in the 1960s. Her proud claim to great fame in music history was that she and two young girlfriends were (most likely) the first singing trio ever to perform on television – at WRGB, one of the world’s first experimental     television stations in Schenectady.
Jane’s household management and child rearing skills were born of necessity and the stuff of family lore. Becoming the “mother hen” of her siblings upon the untimely loss of their mother, her Scotia home became an emergency proving ground for her long task and role in raising six unruly boys at the Academy – one of the most rule-bound of all communities. That she could sweep any number of them, even if tangled up with cousins or friends, out the front door with a broom as fast as she could any errant dust balls is no fable.
Children’s bedtime stories – for her, in her own youth, and for her sons – could just as well be told by a campfire as at home, however. Camping in the Saranac Lakes region of the Adirondacks was a Dunham family tradition she experienced and helped carry on in one way or another from the mid-1920s through the late 1970s. She had been a Girl Scout and was already a skilled canoeist – as learned from the Saranac Lake area guide, Fred Rice – by the time George was first smitten by here when he was a boys’ camp counselor at Camp Chingachgook. After having their first four sons, they established a summer camp of their own for youth in the Adirondacks. Lynx Camp featured wilderness canoe trips in the Adirondacks and Canada, and for twelve of its twenty-some years of operation, Jane was the untiring head cook and base camp manager for staff and campers on Big Island at Raquette Lake.  Canoeing to and through the Saranac Lakes from there was a culminating adventure for most of these campers, and these and other exciting outdoor adventures she either took part in or assisted with – both around West Point and in the Adirondacks – were formative for her children and others, and so, a central element of her legacy.
Throughout the decades of family life at West Point, Jane was an active and welcomed presence in many community and school affairs on Post, and she was an amazing gardener, particularly of flowers. Her beds of irises and tulips stimulated irresistible – though regrettable – temptations among many visitors to the central area of the Academy grounds in the 1950s and ‘60s. As a person, she was gregarious, generally cheerful and full of energy, which was often played out in wonderfully humorous fashion alongside her husband with his… say, more “understated” style. A memorable and fun couple, they ended up with military friends around the world with whom they long kept in touch.
Following George’s retirement from service at the West Point, the two of them retired to Lake Pleasant in the Adirondacks. There they continued their outdoor-oriented lifestyle, made good new friends in the area and lived       contentedly together for nearly thirty years.
Besides her loving husband of 68 years, Jane leaves behind her brother, Charles Dunham, and sister, Sylvia Bouve; her sons and daughters-in-law David and Jane of Craftsbury VT, Jon and Sue of Cedar Falls IA, Alan and Penny of Queensbury NY, Dana and Jenny of Olney MD, Walter and Vannesa of Saranac Lake NY, and Robert and Leanne of Hinesburg VT; plus her 13 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren.  She was predeceased by her    brother Richard, sister Robin, and grandson, Nathan.  
A memorial service will be planned for a later date. Family may be contacted via Alan Linck (16 Forest Lane, Queensbury, NY 12804), and all reminiscences will be welcomed.  
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Speculator Ambulance Corps, P.O. Box 282, Speculator, NY 12164. 

Ellen Leigh Craig
December 18, 2011

Ellen Leigh Craig, died Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011 at home after being stricken.  
She was born in Wells but lived in many places in the Northeast as a child and adult before returning to Wells several decades ago. She was a descendent of the Ronald family of Wells.
Ellen especially enjoyed writing, walking her dog, laughing with friends and after retirement working with children in the Clubhouse and Vacation Bible School programs. Ellen was a member of St. Hubert’s of the Lakes Episcopal Church, Lake Pleasant, and an Associate of the (Episcopal) Order of the Holy Cross.
She was a graduate of Hollins College and held graduate degrees from Tulane University and the University of Rhode Island. She was a delegate to the first USA-Soviet Youth Conference in Minsk, Belorussian Republic, USSR, in 1972.  
She taught at the Community College of Rhode Island before returning here and was employed by Hamilton County when she retired.
A funeral service will be held at St. Hurbert’s of the Lakes Episcopal Church in the spring.  
In lieu of flowers, contributions to the community food pantries, fire departments or the Ambulance Corps would be appreciated.
Burial in Algonquin Cemetery, Wells will also take place in the spring.  
Arrangements are by the Northville Funeral Service.  
The obituary can be seen online at www.northvillefuneralservice.com.