Janet Irene Tarasovich Lewis-74 went to be with the nursing angels on Tuesday, June 23, 2020. Jan was born in Erie, Pennsylvania on July 14, 1945 to John Tarasovich and Stella Zbrezny. Jan was an outstanding student, graduating Valedictorian from East High School in 1963. Jan completed nursing at Hamot Hospital School of nursing, where she became a Registered Nurse. She then obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from Villa Maria College in Erie. While working as a nurse at Hamot, she went on to achieve her Master of Science at Edinboro College in Edinboro, PA. She found that her love of nursing would encourage her to begin a career as a nursing instructor, teaching others to become as dedicated to nursing as she was.
While still a nursing student, she met and married the man who was to be her lifelong companion, Charles “Chuck” Lewis, who was an electrical engineer. Together they had two wonderful children; Julie Christine and Douglas Charles. The Lewis family soon found that living on Lake Erie, boating would become a family tradition, and together they started with a small runabout, and of course had to move up to a bigger cabin cruiser.
Even though Janet had become well established in the nursing community in Erie, Charles was offered a position as an engineer at the electric utility in Jacksonville Florida. The opportunity to move to sunny Florida was too good to pass up, and as Janet’s brother had done years earlier, Janet, Charles and family moved to Florida.
Although Jan found the transition to Florida a difficult one, she took a position as a nurse manager at a small hospital in Jacksonville and she progressed from there to home care nursing. Her love was still teaching, she became a nursing instructor at Florida Community College at Jacksonville, where she nurtured and encouraged many students to become excellent nurses.
Due to health concerns, Jan retired from FCCJ, following a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. Jan was not to be easily defeated by cancer, and even though she suffered two bouts of breast cancer, she continued to enjoy boating and travel during her years of retirement.
Over 50 surgeries during her lifetime finally took its toll, and Jan was called to teach nursing to the angels in heaven.
Jan leaves behind her husband of 53 years, Charles; her daughter, Julie (who followed her into nursing) and her wife Barbara Kempf; her son, Douglas and his wife Laura (Parrish) and grandson, William. In addition, she is survived by her nephew, Mark Taris. She was preceded in death by her parents and two brothers, Alfred and Richard.
Visitation will be held on Sunday, June 28 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm at Hardage-Giddens Funeral Home of Mandarin, 11801 San Jose Blvd., Jacksonville, FL 32223. A Funeral Mass will be held on Tuesday, June 30 at 10:00 am at St. Joseph’s Main Church, 11757 Old St Augustine Rd, followed by interment in St. Joseph’s Cemetery.
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