WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. —  Longtime Williamstown resident, Jean Walden passed away on Tuesday, April 14, 2026 at Kimball Farms, a rehab center in Lenox, MA following a courageous fight with pancreatic cancer. She had beaten lung cancer twice, but after fourteen years the lung cancer had also returned.

A 1964 graduate of Mt. Greylock High School, she received her B.A. in Liberal Arts from Regis College in 1968 and her M.A. from Boston College in 1975.

Jean was foremost an English teacher/ professor. She taught at Mt. Greylock and ended her career at Berkshire Community College where she taught for more than 30 years. She was a gifted teacher who truly cared about her student’s education. To this day, former students remember her legacy of striving for excellence and her love of literature.

In addition to her varied teaching responsibilities, Jean was also the co-creator and co-director of Berkshire Community College’s Project Connect. Created through a prestigious federal grant, Connect was a collaboration between BCC faculty and staff and Berkshire County high schools, bringing seniors to campus for an intensive, two-week introduction-to-college program. Each summer session centered on a different work of non-fiction in which the curriculum (Math, English, active study skills, time management, group activities, guest speakers, and field trips) was tied closely to the chosen book.

After three successful years, the program’s results secured a second grant to disseminate the model nationally. Jean and members of the team traveled across the country, sharing Connect’s innovative components and many successes. She was the heart of Project Connect, the reason it could build upon but never waver from its original intentions, the reason six community colleges from San Jose, CA to Greenfield, MA created and ran their own versions of the program, and the reason she and her co-director received the Berkshire Community College President’s Award.

Jean was a lifelong learner, who, after her retirement, audited 30 courses in both literature and art through either the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at Williams College or through the College’s auditing program.

She was adventuresome. Jean rode horses, hiked, snowshoed and played the drums and piano in high school. She loved to travel, England being her favorite destination. She traveled to multiple cities in the US, to countries in Africa, to Russia, Italy and Ireland, to name a few. In October 2024, she and her sister Diane went to England to follow in Jane Austen’s footsteps.

Jean was the moderator of two book clubs, one which began in 2001 and has continued for 25 years with differing friends. The second was a zoom book club created during covid with young members in New York and others in Dallas. One member said that Jean brought meaning and delight to every session and instilled confidence in discussing ideas. The group read and discussed every Jane Austin novel, as well as works by Charles Dickens, Toni Morrison, Shelley and Flannery O’Connor. The first novel Jean audited at Williams was Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. It was also the final one for this zoom book club which she so valiantly tried to complete.

Jean had many health challenges throughout her life, but she handled them all with dignity and perseverance. And as Jean aged, she walked constantly. She was very conscious of her health and had a trainer three times a week. She practiced yoga and encouraged individuals of all ages to try it. Her tastes in music were varied ranging from classical to country. Her love of art and literature was a daily source of joy and enrichment. Jean enjoyed life!

Staff and visitors alike at Kimball Farms will remember Jean in her last year walking up and down the halls with her walking sticks. She was an inspiration to everyone who met her. She never said I can’t do that, instead she would say, let’s do it!

Jean’s life was an example of kindness and love. She was very social and had many friends, each knowing they were her “best” friend. She was always “present” when having a conversation, taking the time to get to know each person on a deep level, to learn about their families, their interests. She will be deeply missed and forever remembered by the lives she touched during her 79 years.

Jean loved her sister Diane and her brother-in-law Hal Brierley of Dallas, TX. She was forever playing the role of the big sister and was extremely protective of her little sister. She was predeceased by her parents, Alona Doyle Walden and J. Fred Walden, Jr.

The funeral services and burial will be private for the family. A Celebration of Life will take place at a future date. Memorial donations may be made to the Williamstown Food Pantry, c/o Sts. Patrick & Raphael Church, 54 Southworth Street, Williamstown, MA 01267 or to the Clark Art Institute at 225 South St, Williamstown, MA 01267-2878. To add to the Book of Memories, please visit www.flynndagnolifuneralhomes.com