Jill Cranna Preotle

Jill Preotle Obituary

Jill Cranna Preotle, of Boston, Massachusetts passed away at her home on November 1, 2023 after a valiant fight with pancreatic cancer.

She was a fiercely loyal, diligent, and dedicated wife, mother, sibling, and friend - attributes that she carried into every aspect of her life.

Jill was born on March 7, 1949, in Kingston, Ontario, the daughter of Maria DeFaye Cranna and the late Norman Greig Cranna. During her youth, she spent time in Montreal, Vancouver, and Morristown NJ, and Stamford CT before settling in Acton, Massachusetts. She attended high school there, where she won a state championship in basketball at the Boston Garden and was salutatorian of her class.

In 1973, Jill married John Preotle, Jr. The two briefly lived in Florida before settling in Bronxville, NY. She studied at Pembroke College in Brown University, University of South Florida, and Stetson University before receiving a law degree with honors from New York University. She then turned down a job at a New York City law firm to raise her family. Later, she partnered a private law practice, Preotle & Smith, with a focus on real estate and estate planning.

When Jill relocated to Boston in 1997, she threw herself into new endeavors. She taught English as a second language at the Boston Public Library, and passed the universal bar exam so that she could perform pro-bono legal services for underserved Bostonians. The bulk of her time was spent investing in early-stage start-ups, with a particular passion for mentoring women entrepreneurs. Jill was an early investor, active advisor, and often a board member in numerous start-ups including Task Rabbit, Zipcar, Dancing Deer Baking Company, Daily Grommet, Red Tail Solutions, Bridj, iTeam, Rally Point, and EZ Cater. She truly enjoyed the innumerable intelligent, thoughtful, and interesting people that she met during this part of her career.

In addition to her devoted husband, John Preotle, Jr., Jill is survived by three children: Jane Preotle of Boston, MA, Tim Preotle (Rachel Shnider) of Washington, D.C., and Matt Preotle (Elly Preotle) of Winchester, MA. She is also survived by her mother Maria Cranna of Lexington, MA, and three siblings: Judith Cranna (Harry Leichtman) of Cambridge, MA, Greig Cranna (Pam Cranna) of Cambridge, MA, and Bruce Cranna (Jill Cranna) of Needham, MA. She leaves behind six adored grandchildren: Lucy, Lylah, Nate, Sadie, Cadence, and Violet.

In lieu of flowers please make donations to the Center for Women & Enterprise (cweonline.org), The Food Project (thefoodproject.org), and More Than Words (shop.mtwyouth.org) three Boston charities with which she was involved.