Jean Marie Grande
Obituary
Jean Marie Grande, of Venice, Florida, passed away peacefully on December 12, 2024, at the age of 66. Born on April 30, 1958, in Utica, New York, Jean was the beloved daughter of Ed and Jean Janiszewski.
Jean grew up in a close-knit family alongside her three sisters: Andrea Zaugg, Sharon Zaugg, and Pam O’Neil. As a young girl, she participated in the Utica Royaleers Drum and Bugle Corps, where she showcased her talent twirling both a baton and a rifle in addition to the French horn. These early experiences reflected her vibrant spirit and dedication to teamwork and artistry.
After graduating high school, Jean pursued higher education at Fischer Junior College in Boston. She earned a degree as an optometric technician and worked in Boston, becoming renowned for being able to teach anyone how to put in contacts properly. A diagnosis of myasthenia gravis, a rare autoimmune disease that affects the neuromuscular system, shortened her career and impacted the rest of her life.
Jean married her high school sweetheart, James Grande, and together they shared a remarkable 45 years of marriage. Their enduring bond was a testament to their love and commitment to one another. Despite her physical challenges, she was determined to have a child, and her perseverance was rewarded with the birth of her precious daughter Shannon.
Throughout her life, Jean faced significant health challenges with unwavering strength and resilience. She battled breast cancer and other illnesses with courage and determination that inspired all who knew her. Her warrior spirit was matched by her kind heart and caring nature—qualities that left an indelible mark on those around her.
Jean found joy in life’s simple pleasures and cherished spending time playing online crossword games with friends from near and far. A creative soul at heart, Jean had a passion for crafting that spanned many mediums. She excelled in cross-stitching, cake decorating, stamping, diamond dot art, and card making. Her creations were not only beautiful but also heartfelt expressions of her care for others. Her favorite time of year was Christmas where she loved to meticulously place cherished ornaments, several hand-made by her, around the tree and decorate the whole house with the holiday spirit. This included her love of baking so that many friends and family enjoyed getting packages with home made cookies.
Jean is survived by her devoted husband James Grande; her adoring daughter Shannon Contrastano and son-in-law Michael Contrastano; her loving sisters Andrea (Rick) Zaugg, Sharon (Jim) Zaugg, and Pam (Eric) O’Neill; as well as numerous niece’s and nephew's and grandnieces and grandnephews who brought joy to her life.
May Jean’s memory serve as a source of comfort to all who knew her. Her legacy of love, creativity, and perseverance will forever be cherished by those whose lives she touched.
There will be a funeral service and celebration of life at Corpus Christi church on May 23rd at 10:30 at 2001 Route 9, Round Lake, NY 12151.
Those wishing to donate in Jean’s memory, please consider Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America (www.myasthenia.org).
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August 22, 2025
I will always remember our BD lunches as well as appreciating your beautiful art work which I have a couple of and will cherish forever!!!
August 14, 2025
The first AI…Jean figuring out her medications
One of the amazing feats Jean exercised daily was taking her medications! She was recently only taking 22 different medications! The amazing thing was how well she tracked when to take what and any requirement like on a full stomach, on an empty stomach. When not to take something when taking something else. I told her that I would need a flow chart to identify what she had in her head if she was ever in the position of not being able to handle this chore! The reason for all of the drugs varied but started out to address her basic diseases or issues: myasthenia gravis, reactive arthritis, osteoarthritis, mycobacterium, high blood pressure, Sjogrens, Chronic Inflammation Anemia, and generalized pain from her back to her hips. Then she had to take some drugs to counteract the effects of some of the necessary drugs. Of course there was always the fun times of dealing with insurance companies and their insistence on using generic drugs which oftentimes did not work nearly as well as the brand name ones!
Jean never complained but was a strong advocate for herself when dealing with doctors and insurance companies. She knew her body and doctors came to learn that you don’t mess around when Jean tells you something isn’t quite right!
This is the 3D printed pill box I made for Jean!
One of the amazing feats Jean exercised daily was taking her medications! She was recently only taking 22 different medications! The amazing thing was how well she tracked when to take what and any requirement like on a full stomach, on an empty stomach. When not to take something when taking something else. I told her that I would need a flow chart to identify what she had in her head if she was ever in the position of not being able to handle this chore! The reason for all of the drugs varied but started out to address her basic diseases or issues: myasthenia gravis, reactive arthritis, osteoarthritis, mycobacterium, high blood pressure, Sjogrens, Chronic Inflammation Anemia, and generalized pain from her back to her hips. Then she had to take some drugs to counteract the effects of some of the necessary drugs. Of course there was always the fun times of dealing with insurance companies and their insistence on using generic drugs which oftentimes did not work nearly as well as the brand name ones!
Jean never complained but was a strong advocate for herself when dealing with doctors and insurance companies. She knew her body and doctors came to learn that you don’t mess around when Jean tells you something isn’t quite right!
This is the 3D printed pill box I made for Jean!
August 14, 2025
Jean enjoyed listening to music throughout her life. In her very early years she enjoyed the New Christy Minstrels. Fun fact, Kenny Rogers musical career started with the group! She enjoyed Bread, the Carpenters, Billy Joel and other pop icons in her high school years. In her later years she really enjoyed listening to a cappella groups mainly Straight No Chaser and Pentatonix. We had gone to a few concerts at Saratoga Performing Arts while living in the Capital region including Bonnie Raitt and Straight No Chaser. Her magical time of year was Christmas and she would whip out her Christmas CD’s, (there were many!) and listen to literally hundreds of Christmas themed songs by many different artists but one of our favorite singers was Amy Grant.
In 2024 I bought us tickets to a Billy Joel concert at Raymond James stadium to finally see one of our favorite artists right after he had released “Turn the Lights Back On”. It was quite a challenge getting around with her cane since most of the time she needed a walker but she soldered on and we got to our excellent seats. As a bonus, Sting was the opening act and not once but twice Jean turns to me and says, “I didn’t realize that was a Sting song!” …”yes dear, one of my favorites that I incessantly played while working!”. Ultimately we had a great time and enjoyed the show and the live music!
In 2024 I bought us tickets to a Billy Joel concert at Raymond James stadium to finally see one of our favorite artists right after he had released “Turn the Lights Back On”. It was quite a challenge getting around with her cane since most of the time she needed a walker but she soldered on and we got to our excellent seats. As a bonus, Sting was the opening act and not once but twice Jean turns to me and says, “I didn’t realize that was a Sting song!” …”yes dear, one of my favorites that I incessantly played while working!”. Ultimately we had a great time and enjoyed the show and the live music!
August 14, 2025
As your children grow and live life you find they go through phases, some more distinct than others! There was a phase that Jean and I enjoyed tracking as much as possible, Shannon’s triathlon phase! Shannon trained and participated in mostly sprint and a couple of olympic triathlons. Olympic trips were 1.5 kilometer swim (0.93 miles) , 40 kilometer bike ride (24.8 miles), and a 10 kilometer run (6.2 miles) while spent trips were 750meters 20 kilometers and 5 kilometers. The locations made for some interesting trips throughout the northeast, mainly in MA and NY including cape cod and the Adirondacks. We got to be veterans at scoping the best locations to cheer Shannon on and enjoyed riding to locations we hadn’t been before. I wish we had the tracking capability we have now on our phones back then! The real challenge was picking out Shannon during the bike phase of the tri as bikers went whizzing by and we tried to pick her out amongst the crowded fields! I would station at a good lookout location and call Jean when Shannon would be approaching Jean’s location. It was nice at the conclusion to meet up and going out after such a grueling event! This phase ended when leg issues began to creep in but we were proud of her physical accomplishments!
August 14, 2025
Unfortunately I left our pictures of our trip back in Florida while I’m up here in New Hampshire! During our stay in the UK after the attacks we went to a couple of ad-hoc memorial sites and were amazed at how many notes expressing sympathy to people they knew in the towers. There were literally hundreds of flower bouquets with notes and occasional teddy bears or small US flags.
We did manage to do some touring while there but our enthusiasm was quite diminished. Since I had travelled to Leicester a couple of time for work related activities I had warned Jean that when we use a cab that just because we speak “English” that she shouldn’t be surprised if she couldn’t understand the cabbie. Our first day out to explore we hailed a cab in a spacious cab and the driver proceeded to make some small talk after getting our destination. I was laughing at Jean since she could not understand a single word he said and she was begging me to translate! We managed to get to our destination to downtown London as I pulled out every third word the driver was saying and translating for Jean…she rolled her eyes and smiled and reminded me that we needed her translations in France!
We did manage to do some touring while there but our enthusiasm was quite diminished. Since I had travelled to Leicester a couple of time for work related activities I had warned Jean that when we use a cab that just because we speak “English” that she shouldn’t be surprised if she couldn’t understand the cabbie. Our first day out to explore we hailed a cab in a spacious cab and the driver proceeded to make some small talk after getting our destination. I was laughing at Jean since she could not understand a single word he said and she was begging me to translate! We managed to get to our destination to downtown London as I pulled out every third word the driver was saying and translating for Jean…she rolled her eyes and smiled and reminded me that we needed her translations in France!
July 18, 2025
Our first and only trip to Europe was in conjunction with a conference I had in Bordeaux, France. Jean had been practicing her limited French vocabulary for the months preceding the trip so that we could at least find good places to eat and function minimally. However, her packing for completeness led us to two large suitcases and two carry ons! I had questioned the need for every contingency but got the stare and went on my merry way! The flight was uneventful and we enjoyed our time in southern France but were looking forward to taking a train up to Paris. It was a joy lugging big suitcases on the train but we managed to get to our destination in Paris! We visited the Musee d’Orsey and got to see Van Gogh’s Starry Night painting up close, you could see all the actual brush strokes! Amazing! We also rented a car and drove to see the snowy Alps and a day trip to see the palace of Versailles. Upon our return from the palace to our room we noticed people looking at us, we knew everyone could tell we were from the US but we felt akward! When we got back up to our room we discovered why the stares from French folks….it was 9/11.
We made some frantic phone calls back home to make sure everything was ok and proceeded to watch the TV reports for the rest of the day. We got the notice that all flights to the US were cancelled and our dilemma was the place we were staying was fully booked so luckily Jean’s cousins family Tim Reczek and Cosette Reczek who lived in the UK. We were able to fly there and stay with them til we could find a flight back to the states. The problem was that while Jean packed extra days of her numerous medications, she was running out! She had met with a doctor and we discovered that the UK didn’t even have some of the drugs Jean was taking! We finally were able to get a flight home after explaining to the airline our predicament and the bonus was we flew business class and the captain had come out during the flight to express his condolences for all the people lost during the attacks. We got into JFK in the wee hours and managed to secure the last remaining rental car and drove home exhausted but glad to be back home!
We made some frantic phone calls back home to make sure everything was ok and proceeded to watch the TV reports for the rest of the day. We got the notice that all flights to the US were cancelled and our dilemma was the place we were staying was fully booked so luckily Jean’s cousins family Tim Reczek and Cosette Reczek who lived in the UK. We were able to fly there and stay with them til we could find a flight back to the states. The problem was that while Jean packed extra days of her numerous medications, she was running out! She had met with a doctor and we discovered that the UK didn’t even have some of the drugs Jean was taking! We finally were able to get a flight home after explaining to the airline our predicament and the bonus was we flew business class and the captain had come out during the flight to express his condolences for all the people lost during the attacks. We got into JFK in the wee hours and managed to secure the last remaining rental car and drove home exhausted but glad to be back home!
July 11, 2025
One of the perks of working for a large corporation like GE and being an expert in my field of study, I was able to attend many conferences through the years and while Jean was not a fan of flying, she would often accompany me across the globe. Our favorite places included Montreal, Quebec, Portland (OR), San Francisco, Columbus, Bordeaux-France, and Honolulu. She always enjoyed going out and exploring new cities with her conference friends (especially the Barbuto’s, the Fitzgerald’s and the Dekanich’s) , as we referred to them, and was always trying to find a unique gift locally made. Occasionally we included Shannon and the kids would always seemed to find the hotel pool or an organized activity around the city to keep them busy.
The first year we went to California we left Shannon back home with my much older sister Lorraine and we got to hear about Shannon’s sobbing about the indignity of being left home without us! We were so mean! Somehow she survived the ordeal and we made sure to include her in some future trips.
The first year we went to California we left Shannon back home with my much older sister Lorraine and we got to hear about Shannon’s sobbing about the indignity of being left home without us! We were so mean! Somehow she survived the ordeal and we made sure to include her in some future trips.
July 10, 2025
In the spring of 2004 after getting back from a trip with Jean picking me up at the airport she informed me that she had breast cancer. She noticed the lump before I left for the trip and decided that the news could wait after getting the results of the biopsy. Jean attacked this with her usual resolute determination to overcome another physical challenge. Of course things did not go smoothly since she first needed and excision and the surgeon initially thought the margins looked clear but after examination of the frozen cultures, it was determined that the cancer had spread into some nodes. A subsequent surgery removed the rest of the cancerous tissue and 11 lymph nodes. A 4-6 week course of radiation and chemotherapy was proscribed and eventually she had to have a Porta-catheter surgically installed. The radiation treatments really tired her out and the chemo treatments caused limited nausea but she was a trooper and was overjoyed when the treatments were over. The bonus was she never had a recurrence the remainder of her life.
During her chemo treatments, she had lost her hair so one day during my routine haircut I asked Chris our hairstylist to cut it all off. He double checked because he sometimes got these requests but knew I wasn’t drunk so preceded to accede to my wishes. After I arrived home Jean took one look at me and smiled and said, very dead pan, “it makes your head look too big!” We both got a good laugh at her sardonic wit!
During her chemo treatments, she had lost her hair so one day during my routine haircut I asked Chris our hairstylist to cut it all off. He double checked because he sometimes got these requests but knew I wasn’t drunk so preceded to accede to my wishes. After I arrived home Jean took one look at me and smiled and said, very dead pan, “it makes your head look too big!” We both got a good laugh at her sardonic wit!
June 27, 2025
As is often the case when dealing with me, Jean had asked about putting in a small water feature off the back deck for when she would sit out back and enjoy her coffee or just relax, I had other ideas! She advocated for a small pond perhaps with some plants and rocks while I explored adding some fish and then one idea added to another as Jean rolled her eyes and suggested that perhaps I was taking on too much. Those were fighting words for me so I started exploring options. The dang thing started to grow as we, and I mean I gravitated towards a Koi pond and then figured that if I’m doing this, why not make it bigger. Luckily we lived in a sandy soil area which made excavating the hole much easier, a.k.a a shovel! What made it even easier was recruiting Shannon’s boyfriend at the time to start digging. He earnestly kept digging until he just about hit the water table which was about 4 ft down! He considered being able to date Shannon sufficient compensation and I expanded the 6 ft hole slightly and fine tuned the shape to 16ft long by 14ft wide with a depth ranging from 18 inches to 4ft deep so that the fish could survive year round. One thing led to another and Jean’s little pond idea turned into a koi pond with a water fall surrounded by lots of big rocks and water plants.
After completion, Jean enjoyed many days out on the deck watching the various Koi swim, flowers bloom, and the sound of the water fall.
June 23, 2025
“What’s that stye on your eyelid?”
Sometimes small little things can lead to big things and a two year odyssey began with a small stye on Jean’s eyelid. The usual diagnosis was that of an infection and treated in the normal fashion. However, over time, Jean started noticing lesions on various locations on her body. The two year process started in earnest when meeting with an infectious disease doctor. It was confounding doctors and led to several visits to different doctors and hospitals from the Capital region to Philadelphia. We were once put in isolation at Albany Med when it was thought Jean might have tuberculous! The lesions continued to appear and were excised and analyzed without success. Several of the lesions required debridement which was painful and took a long time to heal. Eventually our exasperated doctors got us a visit to National Jewish Health in Denver which was world renowned for identification of hard to identify infectious diseases.
Thankfully, after much testing and growing of cultures they finally identified Jean’s infection: Mycobaterium Haemophilum (what a mouthful!). This required Jean to take two different antibiotics to keep the infection at bay, there was no cure for her since she was immunocompromised from treatments she had taken for her MG.
Jean was quite relieved to finally know the cause of the ulcerating skin infections that dominated her life for 2 years. She persevered as usual and was left to wonder how she contracted the infection in the first place with gardening the strongest possibility which curtailed one of her favorite things to do!
Sometimes small little things can lead to big things and a two year odyssey began with a small stye on Jean’s eyelid. The usual diagnosis was that of an infection and treated in the normal fashion. However, over time, Jean started noticing lesions on various locations on her body. The two year process started in earnest when meeting with an infectious disease doctor. It was confounding doctors and led to several visits to different doctors and hospitals from the Capital region to Philadelphia. We were once put in isolation at Albany Med when it was thought Jean might have tuberculous! The lesions continued to appear and were excised and analyzed without success. Several of the lesions required debridement which was painful and took a long time to heal. Eventually our exasperated doctors got us a visit to National Jewish Health in Denver which was world renowned for identification of hard to identify infectious diseases.
Thankfully, after much testing and growing of cultures they finally identified Jean’s infection: Mycobaterium Haemophilum (what a mouthful!). This required Jean to take two different antibiotics to keep the infection at bay, there was no cure for her since she was immunocompromised from treatments she had taken for her MG.
Jean was quite relieved to finally know the cause of the ulcerating skin infections that dominated her life for 2 years. She persevered as usual and was left to wonder how she contracted the infection in the first place with gardening the strongest possibility which curtailed one of her favorite things to do!
June 23, 2025
The thing that gets forgotten about Jean is what an athlete she was. She was in the drum & bugle corps during her youth and swirled a mean baton and rifle. She did the triple jump in school and enjoyed playing volleyball and tennis against me. While in college, her MG severely limited her physical activities, she still enjoyed watching sports on TV or cheering on her daughter in school sports. Jean encouraged Shannon to try team sports….soccer, “no one kicks it to me!”, T-ball, “it is so boring in the outfield!”, basketball, “I’m not very good”. She at least stuck with that through 5th or 6th grade. I was assistant coach for Shannon’s 4th grade year and one practice when the coach wasn’t there, the girls were not listening and I actually yelled at the assemblage of players to get their attention! Jean of course chastised me that I couldn’t come up with something more inventive than that and I couldn’t argue. Shannon ended her basketball days and gravitated towards individual sports, tennis and bowling! Jean enjoyed watching from the sidelines and nervously root for our favorite player. Luckily Shenendehowa had a varsity girls bowling team and I got to drive to every bowling alley in the capital region during her various league years culminating in her winning our region and getting to bowl in the state championships her senior year. We also got to watch tennis matches during her RIT years.
Jean was always encouraging me to get out there and play tennis with Shannon whenever the opportunity arose. I can only imaging how good a player Jean would have been because she sure was competitive!!
Jean was always encouraging me to get out there and play tennis with Shannon whenever the opportunity arose. I can only imaging how good a player Jean would have been because she sure was competitive!!
June 7, 2025
The school Board years and Jeans perseverance!
We (I say “we” since Jean made this possible) were on the Board for 9 years with an additional year of preparation, i.e., go to a ton of school meetings, before successfully getting elected. I ran for the Shen Board four times and Jean said to go for it the first three times but said “this is the last time” owing to the myriad controversies and Superintendent search I got to preside over as President! I’d come home plenty of late nights and Jean was a willing sounding board for my recounting the evenings plot lines!
Jean still volunteered as Shannon progressed through K-12 schools and enjoyed working in the library as often as she could. These years also required monthly IVIG infusions to ameliorate her MG symptoms but she enjoyed gardening and her usual craft making.
During my last term Jean reminded me that I kind of screwed up the timing since as Board President during Shannon’s senior year I got to speak at her graduation and give her diploma BUT I had 2 more years on the Board!
We (I say “we” since Jean made this possible) were on the Board for 9 years with an additional year of preparation, i.e., go to a ton of school meetings, before successfully getting elected. I ran for the Shen Board four times and Jean said to go for it the first three times but said “this is the last time” owing to the myriad controversies and Superintendent search I got to preside over as President! I’d come home plenty of late nights and Jean was a willing sounding board for my recounting the evenings plot lines!
Jean still volunteered as Shannon progressed through K-12 schools and enjoyed working in the library as often as she could. These years also required monthly IVIG infusions to ameliorate her MG symptoms but she enjoyed gardening and her usual craft making.
During my last term Jean reminded me that I kind of screwed up the timing since as Board President during Shannon’s senior year I got to speak at her graduation and give her diploma BUT I had 2 more years on the Board!
May 30, 2025
The elementary schools years were full of participation by both Jean and I. PTA and help in the classroom kept Jean busy and with her MG in a staple phase, she was able to attend a lot of functions and help Shannon with her homework when called upon. Jean covered English and social studies. The one area where MG affected Jean more intensely during these years was her double vision. She ended up having to wear prism lenses in order to mitigate the double vision and keep her headaches to a minimum. She soldiered on.
As Shannon progressed through elementary school my involvement increased as I joined some school committees and got more interested in educational issues at the school. Then I got the call….and a visit by a school Board member, Karen Greene who extolled the virtues of running for the Board. Jean was a bit skeptical knowing how I tended to jump in with both feet when involving myself in school activities. Then the calls started…..and my first insight into our future was a phone call….a 45 minute phone call from Tony McCann from the teachers union. After getting off the phone our dialogue was exactly thus:
Jean: “Who are you and where’s my husband?”
Jim: “What’s the matter?” (Typical clueless husband response)
Jean: “Well, you are never, and I mean never on the phone for more than 5 minutes with anyone! It always seems like you want to get off the phone as soon as possible, even with me!”
Jim: “That’s not true….well, mostly not true….well, ok, I’m not good with small talk. But I get into this educational stuff”
Jean: “I guess that answers my next question….”
And thus started the road to running for the school board and the agreement that it would not interfere with our family or else Jean would pull the plug! Through it all, Jean was incredibly supportive and took on as much as she could physically when I was out at school meetings. There were many….I mean the 💩 ton!
As Shannon progressed through elementary school my involvement increased as I joined some school committees and got more interested in educational issues at the school. Then I got the call….and a visit by a school Board member, Karen Greene who extolled the virtues of running for the Board. Jean was a bit skeptical knowing how I tended to jump in with both feet when involving myself in school activities. Then the calls started…..and my first insight into our future was a phone call….a 45 minute phone call from Tony McCann from the teachers union. After getting off the phone our dialogue was exactly thus:
Jean: “Who are you and where’s my husband?”
Jim: “What’s the matter?” (Typical clueless husband response)
Jean: “Well, you are never, and I mean never on the phone for more than 5 minutes with anyone! It always seems like you want to get off the phone as soon as possible, even with me!”
Jim: “That’s not true….well, mostly not true….well, ok, I’m not good with small talk. But I get into this educational stuff”
Jean: “I guess that answers my next question….”
And thus started the road to running for the school board and the agreement that it would not interfere with our family or else Jean would pull the plug! Through it all, Jean was incredibly supportive and took on as much as she could physically when I was out at school meetings. There were many….I mean the 💩 ton!
May 23, 2025
We had felt that sending Shannon to the Villa Fusco Montessori school a great way to provide a well rounded education and we had been discussing how long to send her there before moving to our local public school. Of course the best laid plans were quickly extinguished when we found out that the school had a fire and was closing with no assurances that they would be able to open in the future. Jean, with typical clarity, tasked me with lining up meetings with our public elementary school, Karigon and to get things moving for the immediate transition to kindergarten while she prepared Shannon for the changes ahead. Our concerns about the transition and being prepared led to much agita as Jean did her typical school supply hunt and many Shannon chats about differences between public school and the Montessori method. After several weeks of school we had our first parent-teacher conference with much trepidation as Jean scoped out several queries with much concern since we didn’t get much feedback from our child. As we were driving home after the meeting Jean couldn’t stop laughing at the biggest issue expressed by the teacher…”well, Shannon can’t sit still, she’s always getting out of her chair during class to explore the various materials in the classroom while I’m teaching!” She found some outlets by having Shannon read to her classmates since she was an advanced reader and she was able to pair her up with another over achiever, Rebecca McDowell when covering other areas of study.
Jean was finally able to relax and look forward to this transition with optimism and much less trepidation!
Jean was finally able to relax and look forward to this transition with optimism and much less trepidation!
May 15, 2025
"Please Mom, can I go to the Janiszewski camp?"
Jean and I had been dating for a while and with summer approaching we thought we could make the next BIG move…asking the powers that be if Jim could join the Janiszewski family up at camp near Old Forge for a weekend. I had passed the first few hurdles with Jean’s dad…I went in and rang the doorbell to pick up Jean for dates (as opposed to beeping the car horn and waiting for her arrival!) and offered to help with moving stuff downstairs through the labyrinth called their stairway. Jean got the OK for me to join the family and then I had my family, aka Mom, which I thought would be a piece of cake. Boy was I wrong…you see my mom thought I was robbing the cradle, Jean was, after all, one whole grade level behind me, and was concerned about sufficient supervision, young love and all!
After considerable lobbying by me and Jean, pointing out that Ed Janiszewski would be watching me like a hawk and that Jean was only 6 months younger than me and that I was an alter boy for god’s sake! Alas, we were unsuccessful in swaying mom until Jean asked her dad to give my mom a call to assuage her concerns about camp and that human sacrifices were no longer occurring and he would be providing a tight leash, not to mention he had a few projects to keep me busy.
Mom begrudgingly relented and permitted me to join the fun up at camp (my dad was ambivalent about the matter, shocking I know) and thus started many years of enjoyment up at Okara Lakes, swimming, hiking, boating, cooking, putt putting, eating and of course working!
Jean and I had been dating for a while and with summer approaching we thought we could make the next BIG move…asking the powers that be if Jim could join the Janiszewski family up at camp near Old Forge for a weekend. I had passed the first few hurdles with Jean’s dad…I went in and rang the doorbell to pick up Jean for dates (as opposed to beeping the car horn and waiting for her arrival!) and offered to help with moving stuff downstairs through the labyrinth called their stairway. Jean got the OK for me to join the family and then I had my family, aka Mom, which I thought would be a piece of cake. Boy was I wrong…you see my mom thought I was robbing the cradle, Jean was, after all, one whole grade level behind me, and was concerned about sufficient supervision, young love and all!
After considerable lobbying by me and Jean, pointing out that Ed Janiszewski would be watching me like a hawk and that Jean was only 6 months younger than me and that I was an alter boy for god’s sake! Alas, we were unsuccessful in swaying mom until Jean asked her dad to give my mom a call to assuage her concerns about camp and that human sacrifices were no longer occurring and he would be providing a tight leash, not to mention he had a few projects to keep me busy.
Mom begrudgingly relented and permitted me to join the fun up at camp (my dad was ambivalent about the matter, shocking I know) and thus started many years of enjoyment up at Okara Lakes, swimming, hiking, boating, cooking, putt putting, eating and of course working!
May 10, 2025
My aching back….
The many years of taking various drugs to address her MG led to side effects that eventually took their toll. Long term steroid use resulted in the eventual deterioration of various bones in her body, particularly her back. Her first fusion occurred when she was 41 for fusing L3-4. Back in 1999, they were taking a small piece of your hip to use as a kind of scaffolding for the fused area. Jean indicated the hip excision was more painful than the back surgery! We set up a medical bed down stairs and she managed to heal and deal with a hard back brace. The joke was that I was encouraged to massage Jean’s back and push down to work her back muscles and improve flexibility but I always wimped out afraid of damaging her spine further!
The doctor had warned us at the time that more fusions were probably in her future and sure enough, at the age of 50, Jean had L4-5 fused. In the 10 years since her initial surgery, they had improved techniques and didn’t require a piece of hip to be removed which made Jean very happy. I think they used cadaver bone fragments to act as the scaffold this time.
13 years later, Jean needed more back procedures and L2-3 fusion along with a microdisectomy of L1-2. This time they used stem cells and Jean recovered quite well since she was becoming expert on what to do and not to do during recovery.
Her final back surgery came a year or so later when they basically removed all her old hardware (lot’s of screws and a metal cage) and permanently fused L1-5 at the age of 64.
Through all of this Jean never wavered in her commitment to get better and relieve her pain regardless of the surgical risks involved. Her positivity towards moving on and enjoying one day at a time got her though these tough surgeries and the following recoveries really was inspiring to watch and support!
The many years of taking various drugs to address her MG led to side effects that eventually took their toll. Long term steroid use resulted in the eventual deterioration of various bones in her body, particularly her back. Her first fusion occurred when she was 41 for fusing L3-4. Back in 1999, they were taking a small piece of your hip to use as a kind of scaffolding for the fused area. Jean indicated the hip excision was more painful than the back surgery! We set up a medical bed down stairs and she managed to heal and deal with a hard back brace. The joke was that I was encouraged to massage Jean’s back and push down to work her back muscles and improve flexibility but I always wimped out afraid of damaging her spine further!
The doctor had warned us at the time that more fusions were probably in her future and sure enough, at the age of 50, Jean had L4-5 fused. In the 10 years since her initial surgery, they had improved techniques and didn’t require a piece of hip to be removed which made Jean very happy. I think they used cadaver bone fragments to act as the scaffold this time.
13 years later, Jean needed more back procedures and L2-3 fusion along with a microdisectomy of L1-2. This time they used stem cells and Jean recovered quite well since she was becoming expert on what to do and not to do during recovery.
Her final back surgery came a year or so later when they basically removed all her old hardware (lot’s of screws and a metal cage) and permanently fused L1-5 at the age of 64.
Through all of this Jean never wavered in her commitment to get better and relieve her pain regardless of the surgical risks involved. Her positivity towards moving on and enjoying one day at a time got her though these tough surgeries and the following recoveries really was inspiring to watch and support!
May 1, 2025
Christmas always held a special place in Jean’s heart! She took great pride in finding just the right present for friends and family. She was an incredibly organized person and would start shopping as soon as soon as January would hit. Unlike my Mom, she wouldn’t forget where she hid the presents during the year! She kept detailed notes on exactly what she had purchased for everyone and made sure that she spent about the same for all of the kids in the family.
The Christmas gift giving between Jean and I evolved over time…at first she would expect me to KNOW what she really wanted and that I followed the golden rule: You don’t buy clothes for me! That eventually evolved to providing lists of things that she MIGHT like for Christmas and we would exchange our list even though she would find some things NOT on my list to surprise me (as would I!). Eventually we agreed to recapture the surprise of opening presents by buying what we wanted for ourselves, wrapping it, and surprise each other with what we got for ourselves!
One of the few times I got into trouble with Jean was after opening all of the boxes for Christmas decorations, I had the temerity to actually count all 18 boxes and made the gaffe of mentioning that to Jean and her retort….”you got a problem with that?”…. ”
My brave retort: “No dear, did you notice the lovely snow outside the window?”
The Christmas gift giving between Jean and I evolved over time…at first she would expect me to KNOW what she really wanted and that I followed the golden rule: You don’t buy clothes for me! That eventually evolved to providing lists of things that she MIGHT like for Christmas and we would exchange our list even though she would find some things NOT on my list to surprise me (as would I!). Eventually we agreed to recapture the surprise of opening presents by buying what we wanted for ourselves, wrapping it, and surprise each other with what we got for ourselves!
One of the few times I got into trouble with Jean was after opening all of the boxes for Christmas decorations, I had the temerity to actually count all 18 boxes and made the gaffe of mentioning that to Jean and her retort….”you got a problem with that?”…. ”
My brave retort: “No dear, did you notice the lovely snow outside the window?”
May 1, 2025
One of the things you learn while dealing with a disease like MG is that there are many people in the same boat. Myasthenia Gravis was no different and was generally found in adult women and older men. We found a local support group which provided informational opportunities and Jean got to meet many folks with similar symptoms. The support groups provided meetings with others and Jean made fast friends with people who had been dealing and adjusting to the effects of MG. Over the years she drifted away from the support groups and made herself available to anyone who wanted to discuss the ramifications of living with MG or just wanted to chat. Her advice in dealing with MG was consistent:
“Listen intently to your body and don’t over do it but most importantly, advocate for yourself with doctors as you traverse the varied symptoms of the disease. Symptoms will sometimes evolve over time, get better or worse over time, but don’t dwell on what you’ve lost but savor the world around you, friends and family, and stay engaged in life!”
I always admired how Jean was able to steadfastly deal with each setback and was able to share with others while overcoming each hurdle.
“Listen intently to your body and don’t over do it but most importantly, advocate for yourself with doctors as you traverse the varied symptoms of the disease. Symptoms will sometimes evolve over time, get better or worse over time, but don’t dwell on what you’ve lost but savor the world around you, friends and family, and stay engaged in life!”
I always admired how Jean was able to steadfastly deal with each setback and was able to share with others while overcoming each hurdle.
April 19, 2025
Jean had become pretty proficient at cake decorating but her mind gravitated towards other crafts since her babcia and mom had shown her how to knit and do needlepoint. She had done a few large needlepoint projects that we proudly hung on various walls but she really wanted to try her hand some more knitting because she really hadn’t done much of that since she was much younger. She decided that she would do a pattern she inherited from her mother for making Christmas stockings. These heirlooms were made for all of the sisters and other family members and were about 2 ft long. Jean earnestly started with such enthusiasm to emulate her mom and I admired her work from afar. So she finished and unfurled her project and just laughed her beautiful uncontrollable laugh! The source of her laughter was the fact that the sock ended up being over 4 foot long! She said her stitches were a little loose! Given that the sock was to hold small gifts I had volunteered to use the mega sock for me but Jean nixed that idea and we used it for family items and just as a door ornament!
April 8, 2025
Remembrances 12
The winner…Villa Fusco Montessori school!
Jean’s MG, while managed, still took its toll during the day and often left Jean on the couch during Shannon’s early years. Back then treatments were fairly limited and the side effects would sometimes cause their own issues. Jean’s pill regimen grew over the years as MG medications evolved and treatments addressing side effects evolved right along with them.
As we looked around at day care options one option stood out…Villa Fusco Montessori school in Niskayuna, coincidentally right by the Research Lab worked. We really liked the Montessori method of teaching and school head was an imposing nun who also went to the culinary school and demanded well rounded meals for the little darlings! Shannon could explore new concepts at her own pace and Jean was good at following up in the evenings to reinforce new learnings. The ages were mixed and students could work together on projects and dive into pretty in-depth topics.
Of course the early days were tough in that Shannon would get into the car and sob and make us feel guilty…”How could you send me to the gulag” she would express in her own loud way! After discussing the matter with the coordinator she suggested I look in the window BEFORE I enter to pick her up. So I looked in the window only to see Shannon having a grand old time playing with her fellow students and finishing up a project and putting away the teaching materials. The little sh$# played us for sympathy! So young yet so diabolical! As I walked in the door and the tears started to flow I gave her my best dad “don’t you dare” look and of course she smiled. That was the last of the post school day production! Jean and I were quite relieved and the guilt melted away!
The winner…Villa Fusco Montessori school!
Jean’s MG, while managed, still took its toll during the day and often left Jean on the couch during Shannon’s early years. Back then treatments were fairly limited and the side effects would sometimes cause their own issues. Jean’s pill regimen grew over the years as MG medications evolved and treatments addressing side effects evolved right along with them.
As we looked around at day care options one option stood out…Villa Fusco Montessori school in Niskayuna, coincidentally right by the Research Lab worked. We really liked the Montessori method of teaching and school head was an imposing nun who also went to the culinary school and demanded well rounded meals for the little darlings! Shannon could explore new concepts at her own pace and Jean was good at following up in the evenings to reinforce new learnings. The ages were mixed and students could work together on projects and dive into pretty in-depth topics.
Of course the early days were tough in that Shannon would get into the car and sob and make us feel guilty…”How could you send me to the gulag” she would express in her own loud way! After discussing the matter with the coordinator she suggested I look in the window BEFORE I enter to pick her up. So I looked in the window only to see Shannon having a grand old time playing with her fellow students and finishing up a project and putting away the teaching materials. The little sh$# played us for sympathy! So young yet so diabolical! As I walked in the door and the tears started to flow I gave her my best dad “don’t you dare” look and of course she smiled. That was the last of the post school day production! Jean and I were quite relieved and the guilt melted away!
March 30, 2025
Remembrances 11
Work/life balance….I was only kidding!
Shannon was a colicy baby for the first 6 months of her life. We tried the usual remedies back then…a car ride, put her on the running dryer, try different formulas, but our go to solution was to place her in the old style baby carriage and go back and forth over the carpet to linoleum transition strip and the bump was just enough to lull her to sleep!
Another challenge occurred while my mom was changing Shannon’s diaper one day and she noticed that Shannon’s legs didn’t seem to work the same. After a visit to the doctor, she was diagnosed with hip dysplasia. Wearing a brace that restricts movement on one side to let her other hip develop and catch up for a month or so was challenging. However, we were getting used to dealing with medical issues and just took one day at a time and figured how to deal with it.
Over the next year as Shannon learned to walk and expanded her repertoire of things she could get into we realized that as she grew older and Jean’s MG produced good days and bad days we needed to look at day care options. Realizing that most day care places would not accept little darlings who were in diapers, we had tag teamed various ways to make using the toilet such an exceptional experience with various levels of success. Managing my work schedule made exploring options more complicated but we found an exceptional solution!
Work/life balance….I was only kidding!
Shannon was a colicy baby for the first 6 months of her life. We tried the usual remedies back then…a car ride, put her on the running dryer, try different formulas, but our go to solution was to place her in the old style baby carriage and go back and forth over the carpet to linoleum transition strip and the bump was just enough to lull her to sleep!
Another challenge occurred while my mom was changing Shannon’s diaper one day and she noticed that Shannon’s legs didn’t seem to work the same. After a visit to the doctor, she was diagnosed with hip dysplasia. Wearing a brace that restricts movement on one side to let her other hip develop and catch up for a month or so was challenging. However, we were getting used to dealing with medical issues and just took one day at a time and figured how to deal with it.
Over the next year as Shannon learned to walk and expanded her repertoire of things she could get into we realized that as she grew older and Jean’s MG produced good days and bad days we needed to look at day care options. Realizing that most day care places would not accept little darlings who were in diapers, we had tag teamed various ways to make using the toilet such an exceptional experience with various levels of success. Managing my work schedule made exploring options more complicated but we found an exceptional solution!
March 14, 2025
Remembrances 10
It’s your turn…does she ever sleep?
So life with baby was interesting to say the least. Unlike now, where husbands get 6 weeks of maternity leave at GE, I had my vacation time of two weeks and Jean really wanted to save that time! So the adjustment began after Jean’s mom helped out for a couple of weeks as we settled into a routine, if I can call it that! Jean would take care of Shannon during the day while I was at work and then literally hand off the baby to me for the rest of the evening, she was exhausted. The routine for the first 6 weeks of Shannon’s life while she was dealing with neonatal MG was to squirt some mestinon orally before her anticipated feeding time. Then you had to position the baby such that you could squeeze her cheeks with one hand and hold the bottle with the other! We got pretty good at anticipating feeding times because you needed to do this 30 minutes ahead of feeding! Imagine having to set the alarm for 2:30 in the morning so that you squirt the elixir in the mouth of a sleeping baby and then wait for her to wake up crying because she was hungry!
The one thing the MG didn’t affect were her cries! Man could this baby cry whenever we put her down in the crib! She’d be sound asleep in my arms and I would ever so gently place her in the crib while asleep. I would then move my hand microscopically and as soon as there was a gap between my hand and her body she would lift her head up with a look like “you weren’t thinking of leaving me were you?”
Jean was able to cook dinner and take care of the Shannon and was quite successful at balancing all aspects of a stay-at-home mom! However, we went through the usual parental discussion around how long to let the baby cry before we went back into the bedroom??? There were plenty of late nights in the rocker and one night Jean woke me up because I was rubbing her back and saying “it’s ok sweetie” while I was asleep! Too many late nights!
It’s your turn…does she ever sleep?
So life with baby was interesting to say the least. Unlike now, where husbands get 6 weeks of maternity leave at GE, I had my vacation time of two weeks and Jean really wanted to save that time! So the adjustment began after Jean’s mom helped out for a couple of weeks as we settled into a routine, if I can call it that! Jean would take care of Shannon during the day while I was at work and then literally hand off the baby to me for the rest of the evening, she was exhausted. The routine for the first 6 weeks of Shannon’s life while she was dealing with neonatal MG was to squirt some mestinon orally before her anticipated feeding time. Then you had to position the baby such that you could squeeze her cheeks with one hand and hold the bottle with the other! We got pretty good at anticipating feeding times because you needed to do this 30 minutes ahead of feeding! Imagine having to set the alarm for 2:30 in the morning so that you squirt the elixir in the mouth of a sleeping baby and then wait for her to wake up crying because she was hungry!
The one thing the MG didn’t affect were her cries! Man could this baby cry whenever we put her down in the crib! She’d be sound asleep in my arms and I would ever so gently place her in the crib while asleep. I would then move my hand microscopically and as soon as there was a gap between my hand and her body she would lift her head up with a look like “you weren’t thinking of leaving me were you?”
Jean was able to cook dinner and take care of the Shannon and was quite successful at balancing all aspects of a stay-at-home mom! However, we went through the usual parental discussion around how long to let the baby cry before we went back into the bedroom??? There were plenty of late nights in the rocker and one night Jean woke me up because I was rubbing her back and saying “it’s ok sweetie” while I was asleep! Too many late nights!
March 7, 2025
Remembrances 09
“Houston, we have a problem”
We immediately got Jean’s go bag and proceeded to the hospital since there were lots of preparatory work at the hospital in case of complications. Everything actually went pretty smoothly although the nurses kept telling us it’s a boy after listening to the baby’s heart beat and other signs I suppose. They gave Jean an epidural since they knew extended painful exertions would exacerbate her diminished lack of ability to push. Jean endured with her usual determination and appreciated having me there holding her hand and coaching her breathing! Finally, around 7:30 our baby was born. It’s a girl! Wait, what? A girl? Are you sure…..but you told me…yes, we’re quite sure!
We were so happy to hear her faint cries and Jean was filled with joy that she was able to deliver her baby since we weren’t sure how long she could endure the pushing involved in extricating a…ok, never mind. One look at her and we agreed that Shannon was her name.
Unfortunately, the post birth assessment yielded an APGAR score of 6 and Shannon was rushed to Neo-natal intensive care unit. As much as we were prepared for this, it was still a concern. The doctors told us that everything was under control and they were giving her mestinon orally to address Shannon’s MG symptoms. However, I noticed a nurse in tears in an adjacent room and the head nurse told us that she had accidentally given Shannon 10 times the prescribed dose but that they were monitoring her closely. Luckily, there were no deleterious effects and aside from a slightly flattened head, Shannon stabilized and came home after a few days. I didn’t miss the constant beeping sounds in neo-natal!
We had to learn how to squeeze Shannon’s cheeks while holding the bottle to get adequate sucking since she did not have enough strength to suck from the bottle nipple on her own.
Jean actually came home first which was a blessing to help her recovery and we went to the hospital to pick up our bundle of joy after a couple of days and our new bigger family began in earnest!
“Houston, we have a problem”
We immediately got Jean’s go bag and proceeded to the hospital since there were lots of preparatory work at the hospital in case of complications. Everything actually went pretty smoothly although the nurses kept telling us it’s a boy after listening to the baby’s heart beat and other signs I suppose. They gave Jean an epidural since they knew extended painful exertions would exacerbate her diminished lack of ability to push. Jean endured with her usual determination and appreciated having me there holding her hand and coaching her breathing! Finally, around 7:30 our baby was born. It’s a girl! Wait, what? A girl? Are you sure…..but you told me…yes, we’re quite sure!
We were so happy to hear her faint cries and Jean was filled with joy that she was able to deliver her baby since we weren’t sure how long she could endure the pushing involved in extricating a…ok, never mind. One look at her and we agreed that Shannon was her name.
Unfortunately, the post birth assessment yielded an APGAR score of 6 and Shannon was rushed to Neo-natal intensive care unit. As much as we were prepared for this, it was still a concern. The doctors told us that everything was under control and they were giving her mestinon orally to address Shannon’s MG symptoms. However, I noticed a nurse in tears in an adjacent room and the head nurse told us that she had accidentally given Shannon 10 times the prescribed dose but that they were monitoring her closely. Luckily, there were no deleterious effects and aside from a slightly flattened head, Shannon stabilized and came home after a few days. I didn’t miss the constant beeping sounds in neo-natal!
We had to learn how to squeeze Shannon’s cheeks while holding the bottle to get adequate sucking since she did not have enough strength to suck from the bottle nipple on her own.
Jean actually came home first which was a blessing to help her recovery and we went to the hospital to pick up our bundle of joy after a couple of days and our new bigger family began in earnest!
March 7, 2025
Remembrances 08
The big move
We had decided that we’d needed to be closer to family for support during the Jean’s pregnancy even though I loved consulting for ADL. My philosophy has always been that I can figure out how to have fun and be successful at any job I undertake and an opening occurred at my work study job at the GE Research & Development Center. So we made the most of the opportunity and moved to the Capital Region cutting 3 hours from any necessary trips by family. Luckily we hadn’t lived in the Somerville apartment long enough to accumulate many things so the move while exhausting for Jean, wasn’t too bad. All those years of moving back and forth for my 5 stints of school and work assignments finally paid off! Jean was getting adjusted to changes in her body during pregnancy and dealing with balancing the effects the pregnancy had on her MG. She didn’t appreciate her new lack of enthusiasm for dark chocolate but otherwise listened to her body and rested when needed and dealt with her double vision and general weakness.
Our first house was on a busy road in Glenville NY which was a stones throw from a small airport (military planes used the airport, more on that later!). There was quite an adjustment for us in getting used to owning a home for the first time, finding new friends, and acclimating to a new job during the pregnancy. Jean also spent a lot of time lining up new doctors and establishing links to Albany Medical Center which had the best doctors with experience with MG patients. All in all, the transition went smoothly and Jean kept getting bigger and growing more tired as each day progressed. We finally arrived at a few options for names but decided we’d know once we met him or her.
Then I got the call to work that fateful late morning from Jean that her water broke and it was time!
The big move
We had decided that we’d needed to be closer to family for support during the Jean’s pregnancy even though I loved consulting for ADL. My philosophy has always been that I can figure out how to have fun and be successful at any job I undertake and an opening occurred at my work study job at the GE Research & Development Center. So we made the most of the opportunity and moved to the Capital Region cutting 3 hours from any necessary trips by family. Luckily we hadn’t lived in the Somerville apartment long enough to accumulate many things so the move while exhausting for Jean, wasn’t too bad. All those years of moving back and forth for my 5 stints of school and work assignments finally paid off! Jean was getting adjusted to changes in her body during pregnancy and dealing with balancing the effects the pregnancy had on her MG. She didn’t appreciate her new lack of enthusiasm for dark chocolate but otherwise listened to her body and rested when needed and dealt with her double vision and general weakness.
Our first house was on a busy road in Glenville NY which was a stones throw from a small airport (military planes used the airport, more on that later!). There was quite an adjustment for us in getting used to owning a home for the first time, finding new friends, and acclimating to a new job during the pregnancy. Jean also spent a lot of time lining up new doctors and establishing links to Albany Medical Center which had the best doctors with experience with MG patients. All in all, the transition went smoothly and Jean kept getting bigger and growing more tired as each day progressed. We finally arrived at a few options for names but decided we’d know once we met him or her.
Then I got the call to work that fateful late morning from Jean that her water broke and it was time!
March 7, 2025
Remembrances 07
The big decision
Upon graduation from Northeastern and starting consulting for Arthur D. Little (no longer exists!) we moved to Somerville, MA and began our working life together. The daily struggles of dealing with MG took their toll and Jean slowly began working less and less. The discussion came up about having children and her ability to carry to full term a child seemed a daunting task. We were told that her MG could be managed during pregnancy BUT that the child might have MG symptoms for 4-6 weeks after birth but that s/he would not inherit the disease. We had discussed having several children during our dating days but reality sunk in and we realized that we’d be lucky to nurture one baby into our family! So Jean somehow got pregnant and our baby journey began!
In the fall of 1980 Jean shared the exciting news and we informed our parents via a Christmas card for grandparents with something to the effect of “…we’ll get to meet you in September!” Everyone was overjoyed with a little bit of trepidation mixed in! Jean’s feeling was, “we got this!”
The big decision
Upon graduation from Northeastern and starting consulting for Arthur D. Little (no longer exists!) we moved to Somerville, MA and began our working life together. The daily struggles of dealing with MG took their toll and Jean slowly began working less and less. The discussion came up about having children and her ability to carry to full term a child seemed a daunting task. We were told that her MG could be managed during pregnancy BUT that the child might have MG symptoms for 4-6 weeks after birth but that s/he would not inherit the disease. We had discussed having several children during our dating days but reality sunk in and we realized that we’d be lucky to nurture one baby into our family! So Jean somehow got pregnant and our baby journey began!
In the fall of 1980 Jean shared the exciting news and we informed our parents via a Christmas card for grandparents with something to the effect of “…we’ll get to meet you in September!” Everyone was overjoyed with a little bit of trepidation mixed in! Jean’s feeling was, “we got this!”
March 7, 2025
Remembrances 06
Living in Boston
Post marriage, we moved to Boston and found a one bedroom apartment,on the 3rd floor located in The Fens! We could hear Fenway park and I was a short walk to Northeastern to complete my final year for a Mechanical engineering degree. Jean could take the subway to work and I could walk to,classes and the Lab. Moving furniture into a third floor apartment without an elevator was great fun and Jean didn’t appreciate walking up those stairs everyday! I got a lot of studying done with my best college bud, Ted Johnson, also from Clifton Park, which helped me graduate the top of my class. I provided some warmed up meals during the week after Jean cooked during the weekends. There were two things about the apartment that I remember, one was the growth of mushrooms in the ceiling! The other was one morning when Jean was getting ready for work in the bathroom while I was dressing in the bedroom. I heard a blood curdling scream! I ran out half dressed only to find Jean in the kitchen pointing to me to the bathroom. I got the big door brace ready to slay the large beast that apparently invaded our bathroom only to find a cockroach scurrying away! jean was laughing her arse off when she realized that her double vision made this fairly large insect look MUCH bigger than reality! Henceforth, Jean didn’t wait to put her prism glasses on first thing!
Living in Boston
Post marriage, we moved to Boston and found a one bedroom apartment,on the 3rd floor located in The Fens! We could hear Fenway park and I was a short walk to Northeastern to complete my final year for a Mechanical engineering degree. Jean could take the subway to work and I could walk to,classes and the Lab. Moving furniture into a third floor apartment without an elevator was great fun and Jean didn’t appreciate walking up those stairs everyday! I got a lot of studying done with my best college bud, Ted Johnson, also from Clifton Park, which helped me graduate the top of my class. I provided some warmed up meals during the week after Jean cooked during the weekends. There were two things about the apartment that I remember, one was the growth of mushrooms in the ceiling! The other was one morning when Jean was getting ready for work in the bathroom while I was dressing in the bedroom. I heard a blood curdling scream! I ran out half dressed only to find Jean in the kitchen pointing to me to the bathroom. I got the big door brace ready to slay the large beast that apparently invaded our bathroom only to find a cockroach scurrying away! jean was laughing her arse off when she realized that her double vision made this fairly large insect look MUCH bigger than reality! Henceforth, Jean didn’t wait to put her prism glasses on first thing!
March 7, 2025
Remembrances 05
Pop goes the question
We had some figuring out to do after graduating from College for Jean and knowing that I still had a couple of years left at Northeastern. I decided that now would be a good time to propose since Jean could work in Boston and living in Boston BEFORE marriage would not be embraced (this was the late 70's remember). So after getting permission I proposed in my parents home's kitchen!
The wedding was a family affair since Jean wanted to make the wedding cake, Sweets (otherwise known as my very much older sister Lorraine) and Jean worked on the favors, and I labeled the invites using calligraphy. We worked in polka dancing practice in my parents closed garage and fulfilled Jean's dream of a beautiful wedding. The cake was a bit stressful due to size and complexity and assembling that morning while navigating wedding dress and hair was a testament to Jean's attention to detail and her ability to accomplish her vision!
Pop goes the question
We had some figuring out to do after graduating from College for Jean and knowing that I still had a couple of years left at Northeastern. I decided that now would be a good time to propose since Jean could work in Boston and living in Boston BEFORE marriage would not be embraced (this was the late 70's remember). So after getting permission I proposed in my parents home's kitchen!
The wedding was a family affair since Jean wanted to make the wedding cake, Sweets (otherwise known as my very much older sister Lorraine) and Jean worked on the favors, and I labeled the invites using calligraphy. We worked in polka dancing practice in my parents closed garage and fulfilled Jean's dream of a beautiful wedding. The cake was a bit stressful due to size and complexity and assembling that morning while navigating wedding dress and hair was a testament to Jean's attention to detail and her ability to accomplish her vision!
March 7, 2025
Remembrances 04
And so it begins…
During the summer of 1977, Jean started noticing her eyes drooping slightly (ptosis), double vision, and some weakness in her legs. She visited Peter Bent Brigham Hospital to try and get a diagnosis. After seeing a couple of doctors and electrical testing she was diagnosed as having myasthenia gravis. And I quote from a doctors report after a visit…”Thanks again for referring her. She is most interesting.”
Upon reflection Jean thought things might have started back in high school as a cheerleader. She started being on the bottom holding up other cheerleaders but found she couldn’t maintain her posture and had to move to the top. The symptoms would come and go but she was able to graduate and work full time but was dog tired at the end of the day. This was the beginning of her lifetime of mitigating one physical ailment after another, addressing side effects of one drug after another….all the while remaining steadfast in her desire to live as normal a life as possible!
And so it begins…
During the summer of 1977, Jean started noticing her eyes drooping slightly (ptosis), double vision, and some weakness in her legs. She visited Peter Bent Brigham Hospital to try and get a diagnosis. After seeing a couple of doctors and electrical testing she was diagnosed as having myasthenia gravis. And I quote from a doctors report after a visit…”Thanks again for referring her. She is most interesting.”
Upon reflection Jean thought things might have started back in high school as a cheerleader. She started being on the bottom holding up other cheerleaders but found she couldn’t maintain her posture and had to move to the top. The symptoms would come and go but she was able to graduate and work full time but was dog tired at the end of the day. This was the beginning of her lifetime of mitigating one physical ailment after another, addressing side effects of one drug after another….all the while remaining steadfast in her desire to live as normal a life as possible!
March 7, 2025
Remembrances 03
It’s all about the eyes!
During Jean’s senior year, she started to think more about college. She worked part time at White Opticians (or something like that) just down the block from her high school and found she enjoyed working with people and the technical aspects of contacts and glasses. This inspired her to apply to Fisher Junior College in Boston for their 2 year program for Optometric technician. She was accepted and figured we could withstand a long distance relationship since I was going to MVCC in their mechanical technology program. Of course I had other plans! I applied to Northeastern University in Boston to their mechanical engineering program so we’d be together! However, due to great planning on my part, I had to start during the summer while Jean was back home in Utica…just brilliant! At least it set us up to be in the same town during our time in college!
Jean loved her program and her new friends at Fisher! Living in Boston was a blast and she excelled in her studies while helping some classmates get through their coursework. During her second year she got a job working at the Korb’s opticians. In case you weren’t aware, Dr. Korb was one of the early innovators for soft and hard contact lens, very prestigious! They immediately recognized Jean’s superpower….she could train ANYONE to put in contact lens properly! They always steered the challenging ones to Jean!
It’s all about the eyes!
During Jean’s senior year, she started to think more about college. She worked part time at White Opticians (or something like that) just down the block from her high school and found she enjoyed working with people and the technical aspects of contacts and glasses. This inspired her to apply to Fisher Junior College in Boston for their 2 year program for Optometric technician. She was accepted and figured we could withstand a long distance relationship since I was going to MVCC in their mechanical technology program. Of course I had other plans! I applied to Northeastern University in Boston to their mechanical engineering program so we’d be together! However, due to great planning on my part, I had to start during the summer while Jean was back home in Utica…just brilliant! At least it set us up to be in the same town during our time in college!
Jean loved her program and her new friends at Fisher! Living in Boston was a blast and she excelled in her studies while helping some classmates get through their coursework. During her second year she got a job working at the Korb’s opticians. In case you weren’t aware, Dr. Korb was one of the early innovators for soft and hard contact lens, very prestigious! They immediately recognized Jean’s superpower….she could train ANYONE to put in contact lens properly! They always steered the challenging ones to Jean!
March 7, 2025
Remembrances 02
The scandal!
During my senior year at DeSales high school I decided to take some calculus classes at the local community college that was in walking distance to the HS. I still managed to walk Jean home on several occasions since she was a short distance to her home. However during the later half of the year I started to feel weak and developed a severe sore throat. Turns out I acquired mononucleosis and was even hospitalized since my throat was closing up with infection. Unfortunately I lost a couple of weeks of school to recover but coincidently, one of Jean’s best friends at school, Debbie Burrell (Lojewski) also came down with said mononucleosis. Since mono was referred to as the “kissing” disease it caused quite a stir back at school! I survived the ribbing from my classmates and Jean never thought anything of it! Thank goodness! I was actually quite innocent!
The scandal!
During my senior year at DeSales high school I decided to take some calculus classes at the local community college that was in walking distance to the HS. I still managed to walk Jean home on several occasions since she was a short distance to her home. However during the later half of the year I started to feel weak and developed a severe sore throat. Turns out I acquired mononucleosis and was even hospitalized since my throat was closing up with infection. Unfortunately I lost a couple of weeks of school to recover but coincidently, one of Jean’s best friends at school, Debbie Burrell (Lojewski) also came down with said mononucleosis. Since mono was referred to as the “kissing” disease it caused quite a stir back at school! I survived the ribbing from my classmates and Jean never thought anything of it! Thank goodness! I was actually quite innocent!
March 7, 2025
Remembrances 01
The Beginning
In high school while playing volleyball in what passed for a gym, I met Jean after she fell and I helped her up. Wow I thought, she’s kind of cute! After some inquiries, I discovered that she would consider trying a date which amounted to sitting together on the bus to away basketball games since she was a cheerleader and I was a bench warmer! After becoming fully enamored with her I bet my best friend, Dave Armitage $50 (which was a lot for a high school student in the 70’s!) that I’d marry this girl someday! Dave matched my bravado and bet me he’d marry his current girlfriend, Carol Seakan someday! As luck would have it, we both married our high school sweethearts and both managed at least 50 years together and saved ourselves $50 in the process! Quite a bargain!
The Beginning
In high school while playing volleyball in what passed for a gym, I met Jean after she fell and I helped her up. Wow I thought, she’s kind of cute! After some inquiries, I discovered that she would consider trying a date which amounted to sitting together on the bus to away basketball games since she was a cheerleader and I was a bench warmer! After becoming fully enamored with her I bet my best friend, Dave Armitage $50 (which was a lot for a high school student in the 70’s!) that I’d marry this girl someday! Dave matched my bravado and bet me he’d marry his current girlfriend, Carol Seakan someday! As luck would have it, we both married our high school sweethearts and both managed at least 50 years together and saved ourselves $50 in the process! Quite a bargain!
February 23, 2025
Jim and family,
As I watch the video of your life together I see how blessed you both were to have found each other. May you hold these memories close in your heart in the days to come. May Jean rest in peace …I am so sorry for loss. ❤️ Teresa Jabour -Blank
As I watch the video of your life together I see how blessed you both were to have found each other. May you hold these memories close in your heart in the days to come. May Jean rest in peace …I am so sorry for loss. ❤️ Teresa Jabour -Blank
February 19, 2025
Jim: I am very sorry to hear of Jean's passing. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family during this difficult time.
February 18, 2025
Jim my sincere condolences to you and your family. Jean and you were a sweetheart couple right out of high school. The video for Jeans celebration of life was beautiful. The two of you had a wonderful life with looking at all the pictures. I've had Jean in my prayers when I first heard in December. I'll keep you all in my prayers. May God Bless her soul and may she RIP. 🙏🙏✝️ 💜
February 18, 2025
Such a beautiful tribute to Jean. Thoughts & prayers.
February 17, 2025
I never knew Jean Marie, but judging by those beautiful pictures, she had a precious, loving and dear Heart. I know that Jim has the same qualities and I’m sure that his happiness and joy and caring giving heart was a direct reflection of his marriage to her. May she rest in peace and may God bless and hold and comfort the Grande family.
February 17, 2025
Rest in Gods eternal peace I miss our Monday greetings Jean thanks for being you I will forever be thankful to have had you as a part of my life for the time I did . Jim ,Shannon and family I’m truly sorry for your loss 💔
Service
Please join us to pay a tribute to Jean.
While we mourn the loss of our dear Jean, we also aim to cherish the moments shared and the joy she brought into our lives.
While we mourn the loss of our dear Jean, we also aim to cherish the moments shared and the joy she brought into our lives.
Corpus Christi church
Route 9, Round Lake, NY 12151
Route 9, Round Lake, NY 12151
May 23rd at 10:30
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