I was going to call Jan, so I went online to get his phone number and was shocked and saddened to find his obit instead.

I first met Jan in 6th grade, when we had the same teacher. We sat in the same row. He was two seats behind me. I don't recall if we spoke to each other. His friends were other boys from his Deer Park neighborhood.

I got to know him better in junior high school, when we had many of the same classes together. During that time, I had a noticeable skin condition on my face. Someone made up a cruel nickname for me which spread like wildfire around school. Even kids I didn't know used it. Jan was an exception. He had class, a word I normally wouldn't use to describe a teenage boy.

In 10th grade at Randolph High, I stayed after school once, and while walking past the gymnasium I noticed students playing basketball, so I stopped to watch. There was a lone man sitting in the bleachers that I didn't recognize. After a few minutes, I saw Jan walking off the court. He walked past the man to come sit with me in the bleachers. We talked for a while, then he pointed to the man watching the game and told me the man was his father. I was surprised that he chose to sit with me instead of with his dad.

On the last day of school that year, completely by chance, Jan and I met at the top of a staircase. We looked at each other, smiling, as we kind of danced down the stairs, our legs moving in unison. We walked outside to where the buses were. I asked him if he had plans for the summer, and he told me about the summer camp he went to in Maine. I told him my family was planning to move to Fort Lauderdale, and I probably wouldn't see him again. We shook hands and he wished me well in Florida.  That was in 1968.

I did see Jan one more time in 1973 at his summer camp.  His mom told me he was there and gave me directions.  He and I spent a day together. I will never forget it. 

Rest in peace, my friend.

I am sad to hear of Jan's passing.  I knew him only as a boy, growing up in Randolph MA.  He was a friend of my brother's and spent a lot of time at our house.  I have fond and funny memories of him and recall him as so likable.   
My condolences to his family and friends.
Jan Levine

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Jan Michael Singer

25 September, 1952 – 29 September, 2023

Stanetsky Memorial Chapels

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