Shelter Island Reporter obituaries: Howard, O’Connor

Janet Riley Howard
Janet Riley Howard died on January 4, 2015 at St. Francis Hospital in Quebec City after a two-year-long battle against colon cancer. She was 74.

Janet was born in New York City on January 23, 1940, and spent much of her young life there and on Shelter Island. She attended Syracuse University, Paris-Sorbonne University and the University of Madrid. Her career path took her from Madrid to London and later to Toronto, where she owned and operated The Shadow Cabinet bookstore, served as an alderman for three terms (1974 to 1980) and pursued a law degree at Osgood Hall Law School.

In 1985, she began a career as a criminal defense lawyer. Indicative of her adventurous spirit, she took a summer job while in law school as camp cook for a team of scientists in the Alaska wilderness, baking bread in a tent.

Always active in her community, Janet worked at the Dixon Hall Shelter and on the John Sewell/Karl Jaffary election committee, taught city politics at Innis College/University of Toronto, joined the Toronto Historical Board, sought historical building preservation as a member of the Time and Place group, and served as president of the Don Vale Association of Homeowners and Residents.

After her retirement from law, Janet maintained a home in Quebec City and in Rose Blanche, Newfoundland, where she made newfriends and became part of a community that reminded her of Shelter Island 50 years ago. Many of Janet’s most beloved childhood memories were of her time on the Island.

Janet was a voracious reader, a cat lover, an unabashed debater and a curious traveler. She is predeceased by her parents, Lenore and Randolph Riley, and her brother, Robert Riley. She is survived by a legion of friends and her two cats, Klara and Jim Bob, who will now make their home in Southold with life-long friend, June Martin Smith.

Janet will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved her.

Robert Hartley O’Connor
Robert Hartley O’Connor, 90, a longtime summer resident of Shelter Island, passed away on January 14, 2015, in Bronxville, New York. A full obituary will appear in a subsequent issue of the Reporter.