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March 29, 2024
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Latest Newsletter

Obituaries: Janet Dempsey



JANET DEMPSEY

March 7, 1921 – October 27, 2015

Daughter of Dr. George R. Dempsey and wife Laura Todd, Janet grew up in a home dominated by the medical practice of her father. She showed an aptitude for art and produced a large collection of oil paintings, sketches and sculptures in succeeding years. She attended Cornell University for one year and them transferred to Barnard College where she majored in art history. After graduating, she worked at the Fordham branch of the New York Public Library.

Jan returned to Cornwall to head a Girl Scout troop and to help organize the first 4th of July pageant. After obtaining a Masters degree, she began a career as a public school teacher. Her success in that profession is witnessed by the numerous former students who spoke gratefully of her influence on their lives.

Upon retirement from teaching, Jan started a second career as Cornwall Town Historian. She was a founding member of the Cornwall Historical Society and the Friends of the Cornwall Library. She wrote several books including: “18th Century Homes in New Windsor”, “Washington’s Last Cantonment”, “Cornwall Images from the Past” and “Cornwall Revisited: A Hudson River Community”, as well as articles for periodicals. She was a columnist for the Cornwall Local from 1991 to 2015 and spent many hours establishing an index of the newspaper. For this accomplishment and her dedicated services to the Friends’ Bookstore at the Cornwall Public Library, she was named the 2013 recipient of the Daniel W. Casey Library Advocacy Award by the New York Library Association.

Jan delighted in being continually at work – writing, organizing her voluminous historical and genealogical files, and answering inquiries about Cornwall people and places of the past. She will be missed by her many friends and family.

Janet is survived by three siblings: Ellen Dempsey, Ruth Yates, and George Dempsey with wife Carolin, as well as many nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Cornwall Public Library. A memorial service will be held at the Cornwall Public Library, 395 Hudson St., Cornwall, NY on Saturday, Nov. 28 at 5:00pm.

Arrangements are under the direction of James F. Lulves Funeral Home.


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