Jane Meagher Donovan

Jane Meagher Donovan October 29, 1917 - December 18, 2011 Jane Meagher Donovan, a longtime resident of the Syracuse, New York area, died Sunday, December 18, 2011 at Van Duyn Home and Hospital. Born in 1917 in Binghamton, New York, Jane received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Skidmore College and continued her education at the New School for Social Research in Manhattan. As a social worker, she maintained a family practice at Child and Family Service where she worked until her retirement. An activist parent in the early days of the Association of Retarded Children (ARC), Jane was instrumental in bringing equal rights and educational opportunity to the developmentally disabled of Onondaga County. From the opening of the McCarthy School in Syracuse in the mid 1950s with attendant transportation services through to legislative changes, fundraising and governance providing for the areas first sheltered workshop program for adults at a functionally designed, purpose-built Wilbur Street facility. Jane was a stalwart and selfless advocate. A prodigious reader, puzzler and keen observer of politics, Janes quick wit stood her well throughout her years. Entrenched Valley neighborhood resident and communicant at St. James Catholic Church, she and her husband, Bill, volunteered at Community General Hospital over many years. She later resided at Summerfield Village. Jane is survived by her three sons, Peter and his wife Linda of Germantown, Maryland, John of Syracuse, New York and Mark and his wife Susan of Wellington, New Zealand. She also leaves four grandchildren, four great-grandchildren; a brother, Frederick and wife Christine of Binghamton, New York and a sister, Mary Sedeuilh of Montestruc, France. A calling hour will be held Tuesday, December 27, 2011 from 10:00 11:00 a.m. at Van Duyn Home and Hospital Beatrice Latremore Room, 5075 W. Seneca Turnpike, Syracuse, New York 13215 with a funeral service to immediately follow at 11 a.m. in Van Duyn Home & Hospital. Entombment will be St. Marys Cemetery Mausoleum, 4100 E. Genesee Street, DeWit, New York 13214. Memorial gifts in Mrs. Donovans memory may be made to ARC of Onondaga, 600 S. Wilbur Street, Syracuse, NY 13204.