Jeanette Wiltse

A lifelong resident of Albany, NY, Jeanette was born in Albany during one pandemic on October 9, 1919 and passed away during another, succumbing to the corona ‘covid’ virus at age 100 on May 19, 2020 at St Peter’s Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center in Albany.

Wife of Thomas George Wiltse of Albany; Sister of LeRoy Moore, Jr. of Albany; and Daughter of LeRoy Moore, Sr. of Peekskill, NY & Sevena Powell Moore of Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire, England —Jeanette is survived by her daughter, Stephanie Ann Wiltse, and their beloved parrot, Toby, also of Albany.

Jeanette loved reading books and reading aloud. She helped write, edit, and publish school newsletters before graduating from Albany High School and then Mildred Elley Business School in 1936. After jobs in law offices and then the Travelers Insurance Company she married her soldier sweetheart during World War II and subsequently stayed home to raise their daughter in 1954. She then returned in 1964 to volunteer and then work full-time in the office at the First Lutheran Church in Albany. During her tenure there as Parish Secretary she wrote, edited (and mailed) their monthly “Crusader” as well as the Fort Orange Chapter of the AARP newsletter before retiring in 1991 after 23 years of faithful service.

While in retirement, Jeanette Wiltse continued to volunteer at church and the AARP. She sang soprano in the church choir, also wrote and self-published the book, “Sailor,” about her father’s service in the Navy during World War I. Well into her 90’s she also continued her lifelong love of the Hudson River (where she had canoed with her father), the Helderbergs, and Cape Cod; camping, hiking, restauranting, and bird watching.

Her daughter observes: “Few people are as kind or good or loving as they’d hope others think they are. Having known my mother all my life — as daughter, antagonist (the teen rebellion years), as adult friend and companion (‘just like sisters’ as her Mum liked to say), and then finally as comrades-in-arms tending to our family’s tree until our’s was the very last local branch left — I can proudly say first-hand that Jeanette Wiltse was indeed as kind and good and loving a person as she appeared to be.”

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Jeanette Wiltse, please visit our floral store.