Jane Barton

CHARLESTON Jane Barton, Commander USNR (R), 86, quietly passed away on April 1, 2005, at her beloved home of Windy Hill in the town of Charleston, Montgomery County. Born on April 3, 1918, in New York City, she moved to Windy Hill in 1957, after coming to Albany in 1948 when she accepted a position with New York State Department of Commerce as Program Director of the Radio-TV-Motion Picture Bureau, which she held for 25 years. She was the senior female Naval Reserve Officer in the Capital District, having retired as a full Commander following active service in World War II and Reserve service in Albany as Third Naval District Commandant's Representative for Public Affairs. She was one of the first 200 women selected for a commission in the Regular Navy after the WAVES were integrated into the military, but instead accepted the State position from which she retired in 1973. However, for 20 years she remained active in the Reserves where, in addition to her civilian job and Navy public affairs responsibilities, she trained enlisted women. Her Navy career began in 1941 as a member of the 4th class of WAVES and the 1st class to attend boot camp. She received her advanced training at a special camp set up on the campus of Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Mass. During the war, she was stationed in Washington, D.C. in a public affairs capacity that included producing a newsletter called the Havelock which was the only source of information on women in the Navy. In 1947 she initiated and organized the first National WAVES reunion which became an annual tradition. Before and after the war, she had her own publicity office in New York City, specializing in public relations for radio artists and producers. Columnist and television personality Ed Sullivan described her as one of the towns better press agents. (Daily News, NYC, Jan 23, 1947). After coming to Albany, she became active as a charter member of American Women in Radio and Television, serving two terms on its national Board of Directors, and was the founder and first president of the New York State Capital District Chapter. For 20 years (1970-1990) she also covered upstate New York and the State Legislature for the show business international trade paper Variety. Among her many awards are two Freedom Foundation's George Washington Honor Medals recognizing the State Radio-TV Bureau: one for outstanding Governmental unit activities to help achieve a better understanding of America and Americans, and one for a series of dramatized industrial biographies, Our Freedom's Blessings, which she organized and produced. Im May, she will be inducted into the Hall of Honor of the Womens Press Club of New York State that recognizes news women of distinction who have charted the course for others. This award, which was established in 1997, initially inducted Edythe Meserand. Her exemplary and diversified life will live on, as her papers are in the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library at the History of American Women in Harvard's Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study in Boston, the Broadcast Pioneers' Library of American Broadcasting at the University of Maryland, the Naval Historical Center Operational Archives in Maryland, and will be at Mount Holyoke College. As owner of Windy Hill Tree Farm, certified more than 35 years ago, she was devoted to and involved in local town and county policies. In 1973 she was one of the Directors of the grass roots Okwari Committee for Fair Play, which with the help of many others, defeated a County planned park project. She was a founding trustee of the Charleston Historical Society and a trustee of the Boswell Museum of Music. She was a life member of the American Pioneer Broadcaster's Foundation, Actor's Fund of America, the Retired Naval Officers Association and the U.S. Navy Public Affairs Alumni Association. She earned her bachelor's degree in journalism at Hunter College and her master's degree in public administration at New York University (NYU) both located in New York City. She was selected for inclusion in Who's Who in America, Foremost Women in Communications, World's Who's Who of Women, Dictionary of International Biography and others. Her memberships have included the Cornell Cooperative Extentions of Mongomery and Schoharie Counties, New York State Forest Owners Assoc., American Forestry Institute, Esperance Historical Society, Heritage and Genealogical Society of Montgomery County, Fort Hunter Canal Society, George Landis Arboretum, New York State Bluebird Society, American Farmland Trust, Woman's Press Club, USS Slater Destroyer Escort Historical Museum, Navy League of the United States, United States Navy Memorial Foudation and Women in Military Service for America. She was the daughter of Abraham and Matilda Gries Greenburg, and was predeceased by two sisters, Betty Warnicki and Joan Rakow. She is survived by two nieces, Joanne Small and Lynn Hammer; a nephew, Joel Rakow as well as several cousins, a great niece and great nephew. There will be no viewing hours at this time, however a special memorial service will be conducted for family and friends at Windy Hill at a later date. Arrangements are being handled by the White-Van Buren Funeral Home in Delanson. Memorial contributions may be made to the Charleston Historical Society, 5352 Route 30-A, Esperance, NY 12066, The Boswell Museum of Music, 2938 County Hwy 31, Cherry Valley, NY 13320 or the Catskill Area Hospice, 327 West Main Street, #3, Cobleskill, NY 12043.