Loss of a community member

tonmo

Cthulhu
Staff member
Site Owner
Joined
May 30, 2000
Messages
11,267
Location
Pennsylvania
All, I am sad to report that TONMO member and Supporter Jana died in a car crash on 11/11. Her husband Fred contacted me on her account and let me know. Click here for the news report of the incident.

Her son Garrett was also in the van and survived. Although Jana hasn't been very active on the public forums lately, the family were all at TONMOCON III and made quite an impression; Garrett, then 8, had a remarkable interest in cephalopods at such a young age. He was patiently engaged throughout all of the presentations and demonstrated an impressive depth of knowledge on the topics discussed.

It was clear Jana was a caring mother and very supportive of her son's interest in cephalopods; indeed her forum signature is "Jana Kuest: Mom of future Teuthologist."

The TONMO staff wishes to offer our deepest sympathy and condolences during this difficult time for Fred, Garrett, and all of Jana's friends and family.
 
I think a fitting tribute here would be a forum, "Jana's Corner: Cephs for Kids" -- TONMO could use a stronger presence for children's interests in cephs, we can do this in her memory. When I first started TONMO 11 years ago I had a "Kids Corner" section with links to coloring pages, etc. I'll look into this.
 
Please do Tony!
Garrett was one of the kids that has taken a preserved octopus to school (OhToo, with his own full lecture to the class) as well as being sent another (Creepy) to dissect through Jana's involvement with TONMO. The whole family was at TONMOCON III (they wanted to come but had to miss IV because school was back in session). Jana, in addition to being an educator, has helped a couple of other TONMO mom's of ceph lovers find things for their kids. I made a last minute financial decision to miss TONMOCON III so we did not meet (I did get a camera wave) but planned to meet face to face this summer when they were to travel to the South. Sadly the trip through Atlanta did not become part of their busy summer schedule this year. I hope Fred and Garrett will be able to come to TONNMOCON V on the West Coast so we can talk cephs and they can tell some of the stories about Jana Fascinating some of the other teachers with Garrett's preserved critters.
 
My sympathies to the family. It 's a big loss for Garrett and his dad, and unexpected, considering how young she was. Jana's Corner is well-deserved tribute to Jana.

Nancy
 
Oh,

So sorry for her family and Garrett... Tony, let me know if I can help with the kid's corner. I have a new job (finally...) as a kindergarten teacher, so I am busy, but I will try to pop by more often...
 
Im so sorry for the families loss even though I never had the pleasure to meet Jana. I cant imagine what it would be like if I lost one of my mothers at eight years old, my symathies.
 

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