Jan was a great Nana. I have so many memories of being with her. When she gave me my first camera for my birthday (I was about 8), when she came to visit for Xmas, when she attended my wedding, when she cooked 'Lobstah' for my wife (first time Alia ever had it), and when she came to visit and got to ride in my Corvette - She loved fast cars. She was a great Nana and I miss her.
Jan was a very dear church family member. She always took the time to ask our children how they were doing, and she was always the first to volunteer for almost anything. When our daughter Emily was an adult sitting alone while her parents were singing with the choir, she grabbed Emily's hand and said "You're coming to sit with me!" And they were pew buddies for several years. All of us will treasure her memory. Our condolences to her family.
Jan is fondly remembered as a kind, hard working and dependable volunteer and board member at the Ronald McDonald House in Bangor. RMHC Maine sends our sincere condolences to her family and friends.
"Jan's" obit states what an extraordinary person she was! We were always welcome into her home, and are proud to be able to call her a friend. The world is a better place because she made it that way with all her work. Thank you Jan for everything you've done for us and Old Town.
I have fond memories of Jan when my family would visit her. We'd sit in her hot tub, then run outside and roll in the snow. She was such a good egg, and one of a kind-Always a friend to everyone she met. She was a great role model. It was one of the reasons I chose to become a Community Health Educator. She had a great friendship with my mother, Linda Montgomery. I am comforted knowing that my mom was there at Heaven's gates, welcoming Jan with a bottle of wine. You can be sure they are reminiscing and looking down on us. My deepest condolences to the family. May God comfort you during this time of sorrow.
I remember getting a TB test from her many years ago for a job I was starting as a teenager. I am sure I almost fainted but she took good care of me.
I also remember many church functions where she volunteered endlessly! A wonderful person to have known.
My condolences to her family and many friends.
Perhaps once or twice in a lifetime, we may be blessed to know a special soul such as Jan. I clearly remember the day I first met her in March of 1995. It was at a concert at the coast where I was "sitting in" with a music group on trumpet. As soon as the performance had ended, I was "accosted" by this gregarious lady back stage who introduced herself and immediately inquired, "Hey, would you like to play for the Brewer Band?"
This was Jan at her best. Always recruiting for a good cause (or recruiting you in absentia). She knew how to laugh and make others follow suit from her tales and wisecracks.
I was blessed to be her neighbor in Old Town and we shared a mutual love of trumpet playing, Rummi-Kube, the Red Sox and the Patriots. When TB and the Pats defeated the Seahawks in the Superbowl, we were watching; and I listened in delight when she phoned her daughter (who was pulling for Seattle) and proceeded to rub in the victory.
When anyone needed help, Jan was there, or she knew someone who could be. I sometimes think she invented the phrase "thinking outside of the box," because she always came up with a way to do something that might seem impossible to others. This may have been storing my motorcycle UP in her barn via two auto ramps (which very nearly resulted in a rear exit to her structure), or engineering the heating process for her indoor hot-tub.
My most special memory of this bon-vivant was at Christmas dinner a few years ago when she arrived at the feast with a plum cake made from an old family recipe made in a cake mold that was equally as old and treasured. At dessert, she shared the history of the container as our other guests listened in rapt attention. At the end of the meal, I produced a mason jar of "Apple Pie" moonshine and set out the shot glasses for anyone who cared to partake. Jan, who was suffering with a horrid chest cold, immediately spoke up and said, "I'll have one-for purely medicinal purposes, of course." Before she left, she had two doses and SWORE she felt better.
To Betsy and Tim, thank you for sharing your mother. There will never be a time in my life that I will not smile when I think of her and the richness with which she lived her life. I imagine she has already helped St. Peter oil the hinges of the Pearly Gates and is suggesting a better irrigation method for the Garden of Eden to God. Rest in peace, dear friend...until I get there and we'll wow 'em with some trumpet duets.
Lori C. Wingo
I think Jan knew me for most of my life, starting as our school nurse, being part of the church where my Dad ministered and working together on the Animal Orphanage Campaign. No matter what interactions I had with Jan she was always an inspiration and seemed to have endless energy and creativity. She was a tremendous contributor to the Old Town community. She made the world a brighter and kinder place. She will always be remembered with much love and appreciation.
Karen Benson
Jan (Mrs. Klitch, as I was most comfortable calling her until recent years), was one of Old Town's and the Bangor area's brightest lights and supporters. She contributed much personal time and energy and has left a very positive mark on many things throughout the area. She was a Mom to me. Old Town's loss is Heaven's gain.
Jan and I became instant friends when we moved to Sunset Drive in 1958. I was only five years old, and we've stayed friends all these 62 years since then. She was an amazing person.
Such a nice woman. She was also friendly with my mother who passed away two and a half years ago. Great life lived - we can only hope that we come close to Jan Klitch! Rest in Peace.
I met Jan because fellow students rented rooms in her house. I helped her get trout for the pond at her solar house and took sevetal cpr classes from her. She was a very special person. My condolances to family and friends. Joan Trial
