Janet Sutherland Aronson

A much loved wife, mother, grandmother, aunt and friend, Janet Sutherland Aronson, 93, passed away peacefully on October 29, 2022. Janet was born on September 3, 1929, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the eldest child of Donald Wayne Sutherland and Kathleen Bickert Sutherland. Janet excelled in school and graduated at the top of her high school class in 1947. She attended Iowa State University where she met and fell in love with Ronald Frazier Aronson. Jan and Ron married in 1951, shortly after graduating from Iowa State. During the first years of their marriage, they lived in both Iowa and South Dakota and then relocated to Coventry, Connecticut in 1961 where they raised their family. Jan was a homemaker and worked in the University of Connecticut Honors Program for eight years. In 1972, Ron and Jan bought five acres of land in Bridgewater, Vermont and dreamed of building a small cabin there. That hand built cabin became their home after their retirement and it is now a special family gathering place. They were “snowbirds” for twenty years, splitting their time between Vermont and Venice, Florida. In 2009 they moved to Ashby Ponds in Ashburn, VA. Following Ron’s death in 2013, Jan stayed active with activities at Ashby Ponds, including yoga, quilting, and watercolor painting.

Jan was a talented artist who especially enjoyed fiber arts. She created silk screen prints and wood block prints before discovering the art of batik. Jan enjoyed creating her batik clothing for craft fairs throughout Connecticut. She will be remembered the most for her award winning quilts and wall hangings that will be treasured for generations. Quilting was her passion.

She was a gifted writer who co-authored a book, compiled family history books before computers made genealogy research easier and was the editor of multiple newsletters. Jan also was a natural leader who built communities wherever she lived.

Jan especially loved being a grandmother, fabric stores and all things related to quilts and quilting, South Dakota, seeing owls fly, P.E.O., visiting all 251 Vermont towns, UConn women’s basketball, bluebirds, rubbing gravestones and being a 4-H club leader.

She leaves an enduring legacy as a strong and caring woman and most of all a loving wife, mother, and grandmother. Jan is survived by a daughter Ellen Swain and her husband John of McLean, VA, a son David Aronson of Sterling, VA and a daughter Anne Ojennes and her husband John of Colorado Springs, CO; two cherished granddaughters, Emily Swain and Megan Swain; a sister-in-law Judith Sutherland of Iowa City, IA, and a sister-in-law Julie Wisecup and her husband Charlie of Missouri Valley, IA. She was preceded in death by her parents and her brother, Donald W. Sutherland.

A celebration of life will be held on Sunday, November 27, 2022 at 2:00 at the Leesburg Presbyterian Church.

Donations in memory of Janet can be made to the Leesburg Presbyterian Church, 207 West Market Street, Leesburg VA 20176 or to the Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS), a center that motivates individuals to care for the environment through education, research, and avian wildlife rehabilitation. VINS Nature Center, P.O. Box 1281, Quechee, VT 05059 (VINS -https://vinsweb.org)