Jeanne Ray Willig, 92, state administrator

Jeanne Ray Willig, 92, a retired state administrator and dedicated gardener, died Thursday, May 14, at Lankenau Hospital of complications from a stroke.

A longtime resident of Lower Merion, Mrs. Willig was born in Wyomissing, Pa., and moved with her family as a teenager to Philadelphia. She graduated from Olney High School, where she edited the student newspaper.

She worked for years alongside her high school sweetheart and, later, husband, Paul Willig, at the family delicatessen, Paul & Irv's, in Brewerytown. She also owned and operated a dress business.

In 1972, she became an investigator for the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, rising through the ranks until she was named district administrator of the department's Montgomery County office. She retired from that job in 1991.

A daughter, Deborah Willig, described Mrs. Willig as "a force of nature." She worked outside the home and ran her own business in an era when few women did so, and she relished it.

"She was a pioneer that way," said Deborah Willig, a lawyer and former Philadelphia Bar Association chancellor. "She was a superwoman, a full-time parent, a business owner, and then had a career in the Department of Revenue."

Mrs. Willig was also a talented gardener who won multiple prizes at the Philadelphia Flower Show, and an accomplished cook and baker who - although she did not celebrate the holiday - faithfully handmade and delivered dozens and dozens of trays of Christmas cookies for neighbors and friends.

She was an Anglophile who revered good writing and the English language and could quote Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Keats, and Dickinson from memory. She was a grammarian and a stickler for language, a trait she passed along to her children and grandchildren. A granddaughter, Sydney, coveted a T-shirt Mrs. Willig owned that boasted, "I am secretly correcting your grammar."

Mrs. Willig loved art, music, and theater, and until recently traveled to New York twice a month to see plays and performances.

In addition to her daughter, she is survived by another daughter, Barbara; a son, Larry; five grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Her husband of 44 years died earlier.

Services are scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday, May 17, at Goldsteins' Rosenberg's Raphael-Sacks, 6410 N. Broad St., Philadelphia. Burial will follow in Montefiore Cemetery. Shiva will be observed immediately after the services Sunday, May 17, and beginning at 5 p.m. Monday, May 18, and Tuesday, May 19, at Deborah Willig's home.

Memorial contributions may be made to the World Wildlife Fund, 1250 24th St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037.