Jane Carolyn (Whiting) Wiley, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and aunt, of Edgartown, died at home on Sept. 18. She was 96.

She was born to Franklin and Harriet Whiting on June 26, 1923, in Orange, N.J. She attended school and graduated from Orange High School. She fondly remembered childhood visits with her uncle, aunt and cousins at their farm in Montgomery, Ala., and vacations on the beaches in New Jersey. After high school graduation, she enrolled at the Jersey City Medical Center School of Nursing, where she received the school’s distinguished service award, the Hague Medal, and Margaret Hague Maternity Hospital Award. In 1945 she was commissioned as an ensign in the Nurses Corps, U.S. Naval Reserve. She served active duty during World War II from June to September 1946. She was honorably discharged from the Navy in 1951. Her active service was at the Portsmouth Naval Hospital in Virginia, and the U.S. Naval Hospital in Norfolk, Va.

Following military service, she attended Pembroke College at Brown University, graduating in 1949 summa cum laude as salutatorian, with a bachelor of arts in English literature. She attended graduate school on the Elisha Benjamin Andrews Fellowship.

In June 1949, Jane married Henry Wiley, and when he completed law school they moved to Toms River, N.J. They bought and gradually renovated a mid-19th century farmstead in Silverton, N.J., raising five children in the country, cultivating flower and vegetable gardens.

They vacationed on Martha’s Vineyard, where Henry’s grandfather had had a cottage since 1917, and eventually moved to Edgartown after Henry’s retirement in 1998. Jane raised dogs and horses, was a 4-H leader, played piano, enjoyed needlework, knitting, hooking rugs, classical music and opera, gardening, camping, skiing, swimming, clamming and tennis. She was creative, and excelled in her projects, winning prizes for her original hooked rugs about Vineyard history. A doll artist, for several years she exhibited her original dolls at the Toms River Historical Society and the Edgartown Library. She was an avid reader and enjoyed genealogical research and was proud of her Mayflower heritage. On Martha’s Vineyard she was a member of the antique club, doll club and garden club.

She and Henry, who were married for 64 years, enjoyed traveling. Henry died in 2013. In her final years, Jane enjoyed activities at the Edgartown Council of Aging Anchors program.

She will be interred with her late husband in Edgartown.

She is survived by her sons Bruce, David, Thomas, and Charles; her daughter Barbara; eight grandchildren, seven great grandchildren, and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

Donations can be made to Hospice of Martha’s Vineyard, PO Box 1748, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568, or Martha’s Vineyard Center for Living (Anchors), PO Box 1729, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568.

A graveside service will take place on Oct. 26 at 1 p.m. at the New Westside Cemetery in Edgartown, followed by a memorial at the home of Charles and Christine Wiley, 29 Indian Hollow Road, West Tisbury.

The family wishes to thank Hospice of Martha’s Vineyard, and Jane’s private caregivers for their dedication and support.

For online guestbook and directions please visit www.ccgfuneralhome.com.