Janice Carver (Moakley) Anthony, wife of the late Robert Hughes Anthony, died at home on Wednesday, July 20, 2022.

Janice was born in Lexington, Mass., the eldest daughter of Richard Elliott and Doris Lillian (McPeake) Moakley’s six children. After graduating from Lexington High School, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in French from Boston University. She taught at a private school on Cape Cod before marrying Robert, a fellow BU graduate and impressive trumpet player, which is what finally won her over, in 1952. They spent a short time in Robert’s childhood home in Fairfield, Conn., giving her young sister-in-law, Eileen, plenty of time to tease her for her Boston accent, before buying their own home in Newtown, Conn., where they raised five children: Richard Elliott, Robin Carver, Jennifer Hughes, Susan Colby, and Elizabeth Marie.

As soon as Elizabeth entered first grade, Janice began teaching again. She taught third grade, sixth grade, and finally settled into eighth grade English, where she “loved to work with aspiring young writers.” During her twenty years at Bethel Middle School, she acted as advisor to the yearbook, the newspaper, and the cheerleaders, and ran a very popular rock poetry advisory class. Despite the demands of teaching English to a multitude of Bethel’s finest youth, and the demands of her own children, who resisted pleas to help out around the house, Janice worked to earn two master’s degrees from Western Connecticut State University: a Master of Science in Education and a Master of Arts in English. She warmly welcomed new family members, Mary Beth, Carol, Arthur, Todd, and Kurt, and was sadly predeceased by sons-in-law, Lionel Aminti and Kevin Klein.

Upon retirement, Janice filled her days with volunteer work for the Danbury Rape Crisis Center, Hospice, the Friendly Visitors program, and with writing prolifically, one of her passions. Her children are blessed to have years of Janice’s work in semi autobiographical writing, as well as in journals going back to her 16th year. But what filled her days with complete, starry-eyed joy was the time she spent with her grandchildren, who began appearing in 1991. All eight grandchildren, Colby, Shelby, Lillian, Jack, Elliott, Aaron, Max, and Tess, were enveloped in Janice’s love from the moment of their birth till the day we lost her. She will be missed everyday.

A celebration of Janice’s life will be held on Sunday, August 28, at Salem Covenant Church in New Preston, Conn., at 4 pm.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Salem Covenant Church Choir Fund.