Jenifer Craley Bland

Jenifer (Jenny) Craley Bland, 87, passed on April 14, 2026 in Washington, DC. Jenny was born in 1938 in London, UK, and was the only child of Hedley Thomas Bland (Engineer) and Elsie Venner (Piano Instructor). When Jenny was an infant the family, wary of the potential danger of raising a child in London at the beginning of the war, moved to the southern coastal town of Poole in Dorset. Jenny remembered as a child being spirited to the Anderson shelter dug into her father's back garden while the air raid sirens wailed, announcing the Nazi's nightly assaults. The dark drone of the Luftwaffe notwithstanding, she had a child's fond memories of the humble, sweet rations of condensed milk and the family being close together.

Jenny rode her bicycle daily to the Uplands school in Poole. She loved going to nearby Canford Cliffs with her friends, family and her beloved Springer Spaniel "Laddy," who was given to the family by a frustrated neighbor due to his inherent lack of a "sufficient prey drive". Laddy was the first of Jenny's many adored dogs. A naturalist at heart, she would spend hours admiring trees and flowers of any sort. She often expressed that moribund flowers were just as beautiful and unique as those healthy and fresh, and could get quite cross if anyone mistakenly thought that the vase full of brown, brittle flowers on the mantle were to be abandoned "prematurely" to the dust bin.

She showed a profound gift and deep love for language and music at a young age. Despite growing up in a system designed to limit women's career advancement, Jenny graduated from Reading University fluent in both spoken and written French, Spanish, Italian and German. She also translated written Portuguese and Dutch. Italian was her favorite language since it sounded "the most musical," as she put it. Later in life she commenced teaching herself Icelandic.

In 1963, Jenny responded to an ad in the London Times for a translator position at the World Bank in Washington, DC. When she met with their recruiter in London, her love for and fluency in language was apparent. She was immediately hired in the English Language Department and began a successful career at the Bank in DC, where she pursued her love of language and much to her colleagues' delight routinely fell asleep at "intensely boring" staff meetings. Now in DC and in 1970, Jenny met and married Paul Craley while they were both playing in a musical ensemble for the British Embassy Players. They had two children (Bronwen and Tim) who she is survived by and who she remained steadfastly devoted throughout her life.

In spite of Jenny and Paul parting ways some years later, Jenny was welcomed, included, and looked after by the extended Craley family until the end of her life. She forever saw the Craley's (Gladys, Wilson, Paul, Norman Charlene, Barbara, Joy and Jeff) as her true family, which is testament to the effort Paul and his new wife Joy prioritized in showing their love and respect for Jenny, Bronwen and Tim.

When she retired from the Bank in 1995, Jenny began to dedicate herself to her music. She took great delight in accompanying, singing and conducting for the All Saints Church choir, the World Bank Choral group, the Victorian Lyric Opera Company and the Western Wind a cappella group in Vermont. She was an indefatigable, skilled and self-effacing accompanist whose passion for helping others progress and enjoy music superseded any recognition she desired for her own talents. She delighted in playing regularly with her musical trio "Jenny and Friends" and often remarked that she had almost no interest in playing music just by herself. She was a regular attendee at the annual Berkshire Music Choral Festival and the magic of the New England fall drew her and her 3 beloved dogs to Maine each year.

Jenny became a US citizen in 2015 and she beamed with pride as she returned home that day. She preferred coffee to tea and when offered the latter she would describe the brew with one of her truly favorite words "boring." She would then proceed to explain that a proper British "tea time" was a wholly different experience and that she would be delighted to enjoy a 4 pm high tea with anyone game to put in the effort and "to do it right".

Throughout her life, Jenny could be seen quietly moving through the world helping others less fortunate than she felt that she was, often abruptly pulling her station wagon over to the side of the road to offer money, supplies or food to anyone she felt might be in need. One might hear a horrified gasp from the other room when she would interpret an article in the Washington Post as insensitive to the suffering of others or if it contained an "utterly unforgiveable" grammatical error. She had multiple letters to the editor published by the Post over the years.

Jenny refused to lie and tried to never speak ill of others. She was truly singular and will be missed terribly. We love you, Mom. A memorial will be held at Oak Hill Cemetery in Georgetown, Washington DC – for updated details please visit the website for Advent Funeral and Cremation Services in Falls Church, VA.