Anne Jane McCaffrey, obituary

Sun, 10/08/2017 - 4:15pm

CAMDEN — Anne Jane McCaffrey was born on May 11, 1926 in New York City, the second child of Marie Wainright and John “Reno Jack” McCaffrey.

She was raised in Scarsdale, N.Y., by her mother and her cherished aunt and uncle, Anne and Edward Jordan, after the untimely death of her father.

Jane attended the Ursuline School in New Rochelle, N.Y., Emma Willard School in Troy, N.Y., and Sweet Briar College in Virginia, leaving after three years to marry James McBrian who attended the University of Virginia.

Jane and Jim moved back to his hometown of Peoria, Illinois, where they raised their three children before their 1968 divorce, when Jane moved back to Westchester County, N.Y., to live near family. It was here she continued her college studies and began a career which led her to become the first woman computer programmer at Union Carbide, pioneering this field for other women.

Jane contracted polio during her third pregnancy. In spite of predictions by medical professionals that she would never walk again, she overcame the odds to lead a full life which included golf, swimming, and extensive travel. Only after her retirement in Maine to be near her married children did Jane begin using supports for walking.

When her legs failed her completely, she was confined to a wheelchair and spent her last seven years at Windward Gardens in Camden. She died on September 2 at the age of 91.

Jane was predeceased by her son, James W. McBrian, Jr. She is survived by her daughter Sarah, of Hope, and her son Andrew, of Dedham, Mass., along with six grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

After a funeral Mass at Our Lady of Good Hope, Jane was buried next to her beloved, James J. McCaffrey in Castine. Condolences may be shared with the family at www.longfuneralhomecamden.com. Arrangement are with the Long Funeral Home, 9 Mountain Street, Camden.