It is with great sadness that we share the passing of Sharon Owen DuBois.
Sharon died peacefully at her home in Lenox, Massachusetts on August 5, 2022, at the age of 77. Many of the founders and longtime members of our organization knew her well. In the 1980s, while living in Rye, she and her husband Dr. John Jay DuBois were both active with the 62+ member Jay Coalition, a grass roots efforts that successfully protected the historic Jay Estate from development. Drawing upon her organizational skills and advocacy experience as director of Health Care Planning Technology, a federal healthcare program under President Jimmy Carter, Sharon helped rally New York State, Westchester County, and local Rye government officials to aid the Jay Heritage Center (JHC) in preserving and later landmarking the 23-acre parkland.
More recently, Sharon served with her husband on the JHC Advisory Board making frequent visits to our park from Charleston, Panama and the Berkshires for Jay Medal events, lectures, Memorial Day observances, Jay Day, and the Jay Soirée. Her ashes will be placed in the Jay Cemetery in Rye, NY with a small graveside service in the coming weeks. We will miss her encouragement and tenacious spirit tremendously.