JEAN WEXLER

WEXLER--Jean Sigsbee Small, author (as Jean Arnold) and member of a prominent Washington family for four generations, died in her sleep at The Pines of Sarasota in Sarasota, FL on February 20. Ms. Wexler was educated at the Universities of Miami, Pittsburgh, and Rome. As a young woman, she worked as a reporter and editor in New York and Europe, serving as the first American woman correspondent in Germany (Stars & Stripes) after the 1945 liberation of Berlin. Ms. Wexler went on to teach English literature at the University of Pittsburgh and Bard College. Ms. Wexler was the author of three novels, including Prettybelle, which was adapted for Broadway, Fausto's Keyhole, and The Scissor Man under her nom de plume Jean Arnold. Ms. Wexler was born in Washington, DC in 1921 to Robert T. Small, one-time head of the Associate Press' southern division and Ethel Sigsbee Small, daughter of Rear Adm. Charles D. Sigsbee who commanded the Battleship Maine when it was blown up in Havana harbor. Ms. Wexler's great-grandfather, Commodore Henry H. Lockwood was a founder of the Naval Academy. She moved to the artist's colony Woodstock, NY in 1946, and was married to internationally renowned violist and author Frank Mele until 1960. In 1962 she married artist Fletcher Martin. The couple moved to Mexico in 1967, where they lived until his death in 1979. In 1985 she wed Jerry Wexler, record producer and part owner of Atlantic Records. The couple divided their time between New York and Florida until 2005. Mr. Wexler died in 2008. She is survived by her son, Andre Mele and his wife Lisa Rainwater; step-children Donovan Martin, Paul Wexler and Lisa Wexler; her granddaughters Paloma Mele and Tina Freligh; grandson Justin Lopez-Mena, and four great-grandchildren. A family service will be held in Sarasota, FL on February 23. A public service will be held at the Woodstock Artists' Cemetery in Woodstock, NY in June.