Ray Wadleigh

Jamestown, RI - Ray Williams Wadleigh, 91, of 74 Bayview Drive, Jamestown, RI, formerly of 313 Swans Wharf Row, Newport, RI, died Monday, April 16, 2007 at John Clarke Health Care Center, Middletown, with her two daughters by her side. She was the wife of the late Admiral John Remey Wadleigh. Born in Washington, DC on February 20, 1916, she was the daughter of the late General Seth Williams and Mary Bailey Williams.As a Marine Junior and Navy wife she loved traveling and the military life. She spent time in Peking as a child and lived in Paris and St. Jean Cape Ferrat as part of her Navy wife duties, she always ?followed the ship if at all possible.? She and Admiral Wadleigh considered Newport and Jamestown their ?Home Base? and retired to Newport in 1973. She loved the arts, acting and music and was fluent in French. Ray graduated from Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, class of 1933 and then did some acting with the Olney reparatory company theater outside of Washington DC. She loved to tell of the time she was allowed to be the understudy for Alissa Landi a famous actress of the nineteen thirties. Ray and Jack were married in 1939. A member of The Colonial Dames, the Jamestown Garden Club, the Conanicut Yacht Club, the Spouting Rock Beach Association, the Clambake Club and the Alliance Francaise and served for many years on the Altar Guild of Trinity Church. A driving force behind the building of the sloop Providence and Seaport 76, and a strong supporter of the Potter League for Animals. She leaves her cat, Miss Pettigrew, and three grand dogs Addie, Eloise and Becky who will miss their visits to Gramma most sorely. She is survived by her daughters Marjorie Cottle and her husband Christopher of Jamestown, RI, and Anne Winthrop Cordin and her husband Edwin M. of Portsmouth, RI, her grandchildren Jessica Winthrop-Oney, Seth Quest and Lilli Winthrop and two great grandchildren Aidan and Teagan Ray. A Memorial service will be held on Wednesday, April 25, 2007, at 1:00pm, in Trinity Church, Queen Anne Square, Newport. Burial will take place at a later date in Arlington National Cemetery. In Rays memory donations may be made to the Robert Potter League for Animals, PO Box 412, Newport, RI 02840 or to the Seamans Church Institute, 18 Market Square, Newport, RI 02840.