Jane S. Sokolow

Sokolow, Jane S., 74, a ringing voice for the values of conservation and community, has died after a lifetime of service to natural resources. She died suddenly of heart failure at her home in Riverdale, NY, alongside her family and beloved golden retriever.
Quick to share opinions and relentless in support of her extended family and causes, Jane was an organizer of efforts to protect parks and wild places in every place she lived, from the Rockies to the Southwest to the Catskills to the Bronx.
Raised in Wilton, CT, she was known as "Jesse" to her classmates in the Colorado College class of 1972, where Jane became a leader in her service on the school's Alumni Association Board. She later graduated with a master's degree from the Yale School of Forestry in 1980 and worked at the New York Botanical Garden.
Jane sat on numerous neighborhood boards, including the Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy, the Natural Areas Conservancy, and the Bronx Council for Environmental Quality. Described as a passionate and deeply engaged board member, Jane's colleagues say her service brought together her training as a forester, her robust experience with nonprofits, and her deep love for New York City's forests and wetlands. Another fellow colleague described her as "a conservationist, not just an environmentalist," who was very involved as an avid advocate for parks, parkland, trees, and natural features.
Through her deep attachment to nature, she could often be found photographing flowers, birds, botany, and landscapes, especially in two of her favorite places on this globe; the Catskill mountains region of New York state and the high plains of northeast New Mexico. These photographs were beloved by family members who received them as gifts. In recent years she created beautiful hand-made books with original printed designs.
Closer to home, Jane was a member of the Shakespeare Club and the Riverdale Yacht Club. And she could be found outdoors in any weather walking her dog for miles around Riverdale, where she was a central fixture of dog-walking groups in the area and seemed to add new friends to that circle weekly.
She is survived by her husband of 45 years, Edward (Ned) A. Ames, her step-son Ben Ames, his wife Shannon Ames and their children Isabel and Teddy, as well as her step-son Zak Ames, brother Tony Sokolow and his wife Catherine Channell and their children Grace and Karen Sokolow, sister-in-law Denny Sokolow, niece Ellie Sokolow and her husband Barrett Zlotoff and their children Sam and Zeke Zlotoff, her nephew David Sokolow and his wife Sabrina Correll and their son Eli Sokolow. She is pre-deceased by her brother Mike Sokolow.
A private memorial service will be held in her honor. Donations in Jane's memory may be made to the Yale School of the Environment with "Class of 1980 Scholarship Fund" in the memo line. Checks can be mailed to Kristin Floyd, Yale University Alumni Services, 195 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511.