November 7 1948 March 31 2020
Jan’s Obituary Jan Susan Medved (Brainen) 71 of Rensselaer passed peacefully on Tuesday, March 31, 2020, at The Pines Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Glens Falls, NY. after courageously dealing for 12 years with a rare form of cancer. Jan graduated from Nutley ( NJ) High School and earned a B.A. in Urban Studies with a concentration in Gerontology from Utica College of Syracuse University. In 1967 while attending Kent State University, she met her husband and life partner Richard with whom she pursued life’s adventures for 52 years. Jan devoted herself to family, particularly to her four grandchildren who she dearly cherished, to her many wonderful friends whose company, love and support she enjoyed and to the many senior citizens who she felt privileged to work with and for. After working with older residents at Rome State School in the Recreation Department, serving as Activities Director at The Charles Sitrin Home in New Hartford, creating and directing the Silver Streakers of the Towers of Colonie, Jan was appointed Director of the Town of Colonie Senior Resources Department, a position she held for almost 30 years. Always a visionary, she enjoyed working with the staff in her department creating programs to serve the needs of seniors in the town. She was particularly blessed to work with a group of professional women and proud to have worked with Kathleen Caulfield and Anne Marie Sheehy to create Colonie Senior Resources, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation initially providing services to town seniors that would be difficult to provide by her department. She was especially proud of The Bright Horizons program. Most of all her door was always open as she enjoyed interacting with the Town’s seniors on a personal level. While taking long rides in the car and exploring new destinations, she enjoyed discovering great restaurants as well as enjoying performances at Proctors, SPAC, Tanglewood and Jacob’s Pillow, serving over the years on numerous boards providing senior citizen housing operated by The St. Vincent DePaul Housing Office of the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese. She enjoyed in retirement serving The Friends of the Rensselaer Public Library as well as the Patroon Pointe Literary and Wine Tasting Society.. Jan was a voracious reader of mysteries often reading multiple books at the same time. Jan was predeceased by her son Jose Luis and parents Bernice Kahan Brainen and Alvin Lester Brainen. She is survived by her husband Richard, son Eric, daughter-in-law Kim, brother Robert, grandchildren Kiera, Cassidy, Alex, and Ethan and special friend Jojo. The family would like to express its’ appreciation to the staff of the Pines for treating Jan with compassion and dignity and to the many wonderful doctors, nurses and staff at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and New York Oncology/Hemotology who treated Jan over these many years. A celebration of Jan’s life will be held at a future date. Condolences may be sent directly to Baker Funeral Home, 11 Lafayette St., Queensbury, NY 12804, or through www.bakerfuneralhome.com. Read More
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Jan Susan Medved November 7 1948 March 31 2020.
Death notice for the town of: Queensbury, state: New York