College mourns passing of Jane Wold

Publication Date

Jane Wold, a prominent community volunteer and a generous Union benefactor with her husband John S. Wold ’38, died Nov. 18, 2015, at the couple’s home in Casper, Wyo. She was 92.

She volunteered at organizations such as the Nicolaysen Art Museum, the Food Bank of the Rockies, Meals on Wheels and the Natrona County Food Bank. She helped with the founding of Casper’s Planned Parenthood chapter and was a past Casper YMCA board member, receiving the YMCA Distinguished Service Award in 2013. She was also active in Republican politics and a member of the Casper Garden Club.

“Jane was a great friend of Union College and a personal friend to me and Judith,” said President Stephen C. Ainlay. “She demonstrated remarkable generosity, kindness and spirit. We will miss her very much and I know all of Union joins me in sending sympathy to John and the rest of the Wold family.”

Mrs. Wold, the former Jane Adele Pearson, was a native of Schenectady and a graduate of Wheelock College in Boston.

She joined her family on campus in 2011 for the dedication of the Peter Irving Wold Center, named for Mr. Wold’s father, who chaired Union’s Physics Department from 1920 to 1945.

The building was made possible by a lead gift from the Wold family, a $20 million commitment that remains the largest gift in the history of the College. The gift also provided endowment support for a variety of programs, including the Annual Fund, scholarships, the Wold Professorship in Religious Studies and scientific and technical equipment.

The couple also established the John and Jane Wold Professorship in Geology and supported the Wold House, part of the College’s Minerva system, named in memory of Mr. Wold’s parents.

“She led a long fulfilling life, and she will be greatly missed by her friends and family,” said her son Peter.

Jane is survived by her husband, John, a geologist and president of Wold Minerals Co., and former U.S. Congressman; two sons, Peter and Jack; and a daughter, Priscilla. Her grandson, Joseph, graduated from Union in 2010.

Funeral services are 3 p.m. Tuesday at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Casper, Wyo.