Phoebe Leigh Jones

Phoebe Leigh Jones
May 1, 2020
Stanley, NY
Phoebe Jones, 88, passed away at her home, May 1, 2020, with her loving and supporting family by her side.
Phoebe Leigh Jones was born 1931 in Princeton, New Jersey to Frances Brace Kinney and Austin Leigh Moore. Her pen name is Leigh Rehner Jones.
Following graduation from High School in East Lansing, MI in 1949, she attended Michigan State College, East Lansing, MI for two years. At Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History of Art in 1974. In 1977 she received a Master's degree in History Museum Studies from Cooperstown Graduate Program, Cooperstown, NY.
In Ithaca, she worked at the Ithaca College Museum of Art, Dewitt Historical Society of Tompkins County, and the Hinckley Museum of Art. After completing the Master's degree from Cooperstown, she worked for New York State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation at The Senate House State Historic Site, Kingston, NY, Knox's Headquarters State Historic Site, Vails Gait, NY and Ganondagan State Historic Site, Victor, NY.
For Ithaca College Museum of Art in 1968 she authored the catalogue for the exhibition, Henry Walton, 19th Century American Artist. She was the Visiting Curator at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art for the exhibition Artist of Ithaca: Henry Walton and His Odyssey on behalf of Cornell's contribution to the celebration of Ithaca's Centennial as a City, 1788-1988.
In 1982 she designed the catalogue and organized an exhibition for Senate House State Historic Site, Ammi Phillips and Company: Popular Taste in Face Painting, and in 1984 she presented a program, John Vanderlyn: From Portraits to Panorama at the Metropolitan Museum Art's Sunday lecture series to commemorate the installation of the Vanderlyn Panoramic View of the Palace and Gardens of Versailles created in 1818.
In 1991 she was transferred by New York State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to Ganondagan State Historic Site in Victor, NY, a settlement of the Seneca. Today the site is enjoyed by the public for its educational, historical, cultural, natural history and art opportunities. She retired from there in 2000.
In 1993 she purchased a small Greek Revival cobblestone farmhouse at auction, built by Jacob Isenhour in 1842 in the Town of Hopewell, NY, and in 2011 she and her brother Stephen B. Agard researched and co-authored Jacob Isenhour's Cobblestone Legacy, available at the Ontario County Historical Society in Canandaigua, NY.
She was Town Historian for the Town of Hopewell, NY for seven years, a longtime volunteer at the Ontario County Records and Archives Center, and a past volunteer for the Ontario County Historical Society.
Especially enduring interests were art, music, travel, gardening, her book group, and most of all, the company of her family and friends.
Surviving family members are her son, Stephen Austin Rehner of Silver Spring, MD; daughters, Kathryn Leigh Rehner of Trumansburg, NY and Lisa Rehner-Brown (Bob) of Ithaca, NY; grandchildren in Ithaca, NY are Jordan Aceto (Ariana), and Phoebe Leigh Aceto. On Lummi Island, WA State is Lily Aceto (Simon). Great-Grandchildren, Sebastian Aceto is in Ithaca NY and in Trumansburg NY are Grandson, Teo Aceto (Anya Harris) and great-grandson, Lazslo. In Maryland are two grandsons, Isaac Leigh Rehner and Daniel Leigh Rehner.
Also surviving are her brother, Stephen Browning Agard, Stillwater, MN, and good friends near and far, especially Diane Newlander and John Gradwick.
Phoebe Leigh had an extraordinarily vivid and colorful persona, and carried the brightest outlook on life and humanity imaginable. She had an unwavering eye for beauty, whether it was in creating her gorgeous and inviting environments, or in cultivating rich connections with all who were lucky enough to cross her path. She shared her laughter and her empathy with unbridled generosity. She was a dazzling example of humanity, and will be sorely missed by all.
Phoebe has requested that memorial gifts in her name be directed to Ganondagan State Historic Site, Box 113, Victor, NY 14564; Ontario Pathways, P. O. Box 996, Canandaigua, NY 14424; Beverly Animal Shelter, 50 East River Road, Waterloo, NY 13165, Geneva Family YMCA, 399 William Street, Geneva, NY 14456 or Hopewell Volunteer Fire Department, P. O. Box 932, Canandaigua, NY 14424.
Private memorial arrangements will be made by her family at a later date.