SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. — Jane Greco Deming stared at her computer.
The screen’s insertion point blinked upon the white void, as it waited for her thoughts to turn to text.
Her husband, Fred, lay asleep in bed.
It was 2021.
Some time had passed since they were both sick with COVID-19.
But the virus was particularly cruel to Fred and left him with swelling in his brain.
“It left him pain-free and happy,” Jane said. “Which (my granddaughter) Eleanor (Meo) will tell you, that’s how he should have gone out. Because he was always happy. Always loving. When he was in the nursing home, he flirted with the nurses, he joked, he went to all the events that they had.”
“He would hug every animal he ever saw,” Meo said.
“It was not horrible. He did really well for 9 ½ months,” Deming said. “And then, in two days, he ate breakfast, went to sleep, and didn’t wake up.”
Fred Deming died on his birthday, on Dec. 11, 2021.
“It’s a privilege to be with someone who you love, when they die,” Jane said. “He said, ‘I want to die on my birthday.’ And he did. I got a call at 2 a.m. She said, ‘all of a sudden, he’s slipping fast.’ And I got there just in time to hold him and say goodbye.”
For decades, Jane and Fred together worked in the fields of animal welfare, humane education, wildlife rehabilitation, and zoo management. Jane wanted to create something, to honor her husband’s life.
“While he was in hospice care, I kept thinking – something good has to come from this,” Deming said. “Something positive, from this time I’m spending with him (right now).”
Fred loved spending time helping animals and children.
“My husband and I, from the day we met, it was all animals all the time,” Deming said. “(He was) loved by everyone, but animals loved him too, they hung with him.”
Throughout their career in the field together, the couple helped either raise or rehabilitate a plethora of species: tigers, a lion cub, 13 monkeys, parrots, white-tailed deer. One year, they took care of three baby hawks.
In all the photos Jane has of Fred, he is either working with children or animals.
“Our whole life was children and animals. Everything. We had a house full of kids, always a house full of animals,” Deming said. “And that’s just how we lived. Every vacation was connected to what animals we were gonna see.”
Deming, whose work was supported Animal Rescue Rhode Island (ARRI), decided she was going to write a book.
Her fingers moved across the keyboard.
“A little puppy was born on Valentine’s Day.”
The organization this month announced the publishing of “Sugar’s Story.”
Deming’s goal was to create a book about pet ownership that’s easy for younger readers to digest, by incorporating lessons into a story.
“It’s really hard to find a book that’s appropriate,” Deming said. “The right length, the right terminology, or the ability to define certain terms like spaying and nurturing. So, I thought, if I wrote a book about an animal — my job here is to teach pet responsibility and to teach, hopefully, an appreciation for animals, their environment, and other human beings.”
ARRI Executive Director Liz Skrobisch said Deming and her work over the years have been a positive influence on the future generation of pet owners.
“People gravitate to her,” Skrobisch said. “She’s calm, she’s kind. She’s so smart. And she has a way of making people feel welcomed. It makes her good at what she does.”
Deming’s story was funded by a grant from the Rhode Island Foundation, and ARRI on Sunday held a meet-and-greet for the public to speak with Deming and the book’s illustrator, Sue Greco. Greco, an independent art teacher, has taught watercolor painting since 2015 and published her first lesson book in 2017. “Sugar’s Story,” is the sixth book that Greco has illustrated.
Greco, who started painting in 2009, was contacted in September 2022.
“Animals are my thing, that’s what I love to paint. So, I was like, ‘I’d love to,’” Greco said, adding she was happy to contribute toward an educational tool. “Animals need us, and we need animals.”
Proceeds collected from the book’s sales will go toward ARRI. The book, although not too lengthy, has chapters, and is written for children around ages 8-11. It’s about a puppy who is found in a barn, adopted from an animal shelter, and gets loose from her backyard, before being found again.
Deming has worked with animals for over 45 years and is the former National Director of Education at the American Humane Association. She has created several education initiatives for children, including the Providence Children’s Museum exhibit, “Pets & People,” “Pet Meets Baby,” which educates expecting parents about preparing their pets for a newborn, and “American Humane Kids,” a dog bite prevention program.
Jane’s battle with COVID landed her in the hospital on Valentine’s Day. Fred had been infected first and felt bad about his wife also catching it.
“And he said to me … ‘Oh my God, I gave you COVID for Valentine’s Day. I’m so sorry,’” Jane said. “So, I kind of use that to weave the story. Sugar’s ID is heart shaped, for Valentine’s Day.”
To highlight the educational points, Deming bolded key words in the book that suggested pet owner responsibilities, such as ‘vaccines’ and ‘ID tags.’
At the back of the book, there is a vocabulary bank that reviews all the terms taught in the story. There is also an explanation of what to do if the reader’s pet was to get lost.
Years ago, Deming said she ran a survey with a kindergarten class and asked them, ‘do pets have feelings?’
“What’s interesting with little ones, when you ask that, sometimes they say ‘no,’” Deming said. “And then, you see that light go off and someone will say, ‘Oh, my dog is afraid of lightning.’ ‘Oh, my cat waits at the window for me to come home from school.’ What I want kids to know is, just like you don’t want someone taking something away from you or stealing your lunch or your toys or waking you up when you’re sleeping, animals have those same emotions. Dogs get cranky … Pets don’t come to you automatically, like you open the box and they’re perfect. So, part of the lesson in there is that you have to work with your pets, so they fit into your family the way you want.”
Deming’s granddaughter, Eleanor Meo, through her family has learned about animals, while also attending the school programs her grandmother has ran.
“She’s the most intelligent lady I’ve ever met in my life,” Meo said.
She paused.
“Seriously,” Meo said, looking over at Deming with a smile. “You think I’m kidding? I grew up with animals because of her … She’s just my grandma. She’s my best friend. I learned a lot from her.”