Jane Wilgis

Jane VandeGrift Wilgis passed away peacefully on July 16, 2026, in Wilmington, North Carolina. She was 89 years old. Born August 7, 1936, in Baltimore, Maryland, she was the daughter of Dr. William B. VandeGrift, a pathologist, and Dorothy B. VandeGrift, a nurse. Jane attended Calvert School and Bryn Mawr School. She was an alumna of Wellesley College and George Washington University, graduating in 1959.

Jane met her husband, Herbert E. Wilgis, Jr. on a blind date and they married in 1958. Herb was the love of her life; they were married for 59 years. In 1958 they embarked on a life of adventure in the U.S. Foreign Service. Together, they served in postings in Barcelona, Honduras, Budapest, Bonn, and Warsaw, often placing them at the fault lines of the Cold War, from diplomatic breakthroughs in Hungary in 1978 to leading the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw during the imposition of martial law in 1981.

As the spouse of a diplomat, Jane had many official and unofficial duties. She managed repeated moves, learned multiple languages, set up one household after another in foreign lands, navigated local customs, markets, and neighborhoods, and created warm and loving homes for her family. She turned her residences into unofficial instruments of U.S. foreign policy, orchestrating the relationships and conversations during dinners and events that are such an important part of the human machinery of diplomacy.

Jane embraced foreign service families, establishing a family liaison office in Warsaw to assist arriving families and an orientation program for newcomers in Barcelona. For her own extended family, she wrote the famous “family letters” that connected everyone and chronicled life overseas.

Jane loved children, and in postings back to Washington, D.C., she worked in early childhood education. She was a lifelong volunteer in her community, starting at an early age as a nurse’s aide in the pediatric burn unit at Union Memorial Hospital. She had an enduring love of art, filling her homes with prints and paintings collected from all over the world and volunteered for the Print & Drawing Society of the Baltimore Museum of Art. Jane was a master gardener, creating beautiful gardens wherever she lived, and volunteered, often in leadership roles, with gardening societies.

Jane and Herb returned to Baltimore after their 30-year career in the Foreign Service, and after Herb’s retirement from his business career in Baltimore, moved to Rehoboth Beach in Delaware. Jane loved the beach and was a fierce beach walker. When important discussions were to be had, they often occurred on walks in Rehoboth. Rehoboth was the fulcrum for years of family gatherings and Jane loved every minute spent there with her children and grandchildren, whether on the boardwalk, on the tennis court, in the garden, on the porch playing games, or in the water or sand.

Jane’s final years were spent in Wilmington, North Carolina, where she and Herb moved in 2014 to enjoy more time with their then young granddaughter.

Jane is survived by her three sons, Jeffery Breen Wilgis (Beth) of Sandwich, MA, Herbert E. Wilgis III (Linda) of Seattle, WA, Edward Shaw Wilgis (Melissa) of Wilmington, NC, and her four grandchildren, Nick, Elijah, Christian, and Frances Jane.

The family will hold a Memorial Service in the coming months. In lieu of flowers, the family gratefully suggests that donations be made to the Calvert School or Bryn Mawr School of Baltimore.