It's hard to keep up with the blog. Today I have to speak of by the death of my good friend, Jan Wells. Jan, after living and working in England and Toronto, was a faculty associate at SFU, and then a teacher, mainly at McKechnie in Vancouver, and then a consultant for Sunrise and Primary Consultant for the whole school district until five years ago when positions were cut and she took a position at Simon Fraser University. Shortly after that she was diagnosed with bone cancer. She broke all odds and lived far longer and productively than anyone could imagine. Her love of travel and writing and reading and working with children and their teachers, as well as artistic pursuits and gardening and enjoying the outdoors continued. No one lived life more fully. She died Monday peacefully of pneumonia.
To quote a Vancouver teacher, "Jan was an amazing person and a wonderful mentor...and I am a better teacher because of her for so many reasons. She changed my vision forever, and I am forever grateful for that."
All her friends and those whose lives she touched feel a deep sense of loss yet a sense of deep privilege for having had Jan in our lives. Our hearts go out to her wonderful husband, Jerry; her beloved son, William; and to her sisters, brother and mom in England.
4 comments:
Hi Meredyth,
Thank you for writing about Jan Wells. This is a sad time for her friends, her family and he students.
Jan will always be remembered for all that she has done to help children become readers and writers.
I will miss her smile, her good cheer and her knowledge of literacy and young people.
So true but on the other hand so much of her will stay with us! And of course she would stay just get on with it! Take care
Thanks Meredyth for letting us know about Jan. She was such a lovely human being and she has had to deal with this illness for so long. As much as I am sad at her passing I am also relieved that her suffering is over. My thoughts are with her family and my hopes that they will be able to move on with their lives with joyful memories of Jan in their hearts and to guide their journeys. Nancy Carl
What a lovely thought, Nancy! And Jan was such a "Just do it" kind of person...
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