Janice Byington Hinkle

1921 - 2019
Janice Byington Hinkle died on August 13, 2019 at Meadow Ridge retirement community in Redding, CT. She was 98.

Born Janice Joy Byington, Janice was the fifth of six children of Jeannette Gregory Byington and Homer M. Byington, late of Darien, CT. Janice was born on March 28, 1921 in Naples, Italy, where her father was stationed as the U.S. Consul General. Due to her father's consular service, she spent her childhood years first in Italy, then in Washington, DC, and then in Montreal, CA, where she graduated from high school in 1938. She graduated from Wellesley College, in Wellesley, MA, in the class of 1942.

On June 9, 1942, Janice married Dr. Lawrence E. Hinkle, Jr. (Lawry), just after she had graduated from Wellesley and he from Harvard Medical School. Her ambition was to raise and nurture a large family, an undertaking that she performed with extraordinary ability. She was a devoted wife to Lawry for 70 years until his death in 2012, and during that time they raised and nurtured six children. She was a warm, kind, and generous person. In addition to her primary interests as a mother and homemaker, she loved to read books and go to plays. She also had an athletic side that she manifested in her younger days on the tennis courts at Tokeneke Club in Darien, CT, and on the golf course at the New Canaan Country Club in her later years. She was also known by her family as a shrewd competitor in bridge and other card games. She did volunteer work for Planned Parenthood for many years.

The family settled in New Canaan, CT, where they resided at 248 South Main Street from 1951 to 1959, and at 198 Bridle Path Lane from 1959 to 2004, when she and Lawry moved to Meadow Ridge. Janice had many friends and enjoyed social events, but she lived the largely private life of a dedicated mother and homemaker. She left enduring memories among her many children and grandchildren of her devotion, her courage, and her kind and nurturing ways.

She is survived by her six children: Lawrence E. Hinkle, III (Peggy Hinkle), of Arlington, VA; Ward B. Hinkle (Cynthia Foote), of Orchard Park, NY; Janice B. Gregory, of Newburyport, MA; Susan H. Murray of Asheville, NC; Kate Hinkle, of Raleigh, NC; and North Hinkle (Christine Hinkle) of Stamford, CT. She is also survived by thirteen grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

Funeral and Internment services will be held at St. Marks Church, in New Canaan, CT on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. Janice was devoted to Planned Parenthood and to Wellesley College: in lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent to Wellesley at wellesley.edu/give or to Planned Parenthood at weareplannedparenthood.org.