Janet "Jan" (Price) Orme

On August 30th, Jan Orme died after a fierce battle with Alzheimer’s. For someone with such a quick wit and mind, this diagnosis was particularly painful.

Born in Salt Lake City to Beth and Howard Price in 1942, she was predeceased by her brother Douglas and is survived by her sister Diane. She attended the University of Utah for her B.A. in History and French and taught at Olympus High before moving to Seattle in 1967. While working on a Masters and teaching at Jane Addams Middle School, she married Burton M. Orme in 1969 in the L.D.S. temple in Logan, Utah. Jan liked to think she landed Burt because he learned on their first date that she could transpose music on the piano in her head and because she didn’t fall all over him like the other girls at church. Together they made a life on Mercer Island having two daughters Leslie and Michelle. Jan and Burt were married 51 years spending many of those traveling the world together. Jan was a devoted mom, there at every moment in her daughters lives, ready to help with a school project from making Santa costumes to volcanoes that blew real Mt. St. Helens ash. Later in life that devotion grew to include her two grandsons, Cyrus and Austin, who knew grandma could be counted on for a treat or a life skill like how to shoot the paper on straws across the dinner table at a restaurant.

Jan loved teaching teenagers, whether she was long-term subbing at Mercer Island High School or taking a group of teens to Europe for the summer to study. A lesson about Napoleon might be delivered for over an hour on her knees or over an intense game of spoons on the train. She knew how to reach students and connect with them. “She changed my life and how I saw the world” has been something her family has heard multiple times since her passing. It should be noted however, that she wasn’t above threatening to boo at a student’s graduation if they misbehaved in her class.

Jan traveled extensively, hitting six out of seven continents. She especially loved Paris, Istanbul, India and China. But her heart was in Switzerland and she returned to it around ten times in her life to hike in the Alps. Jan was especially proud of the Swiss trip she took with her friend Judy Hammar who had just finished treatment for cancer.

Jan knew a lot and could teach a lecture on most of it. She could do 20 minutes on the greatness of a Costco rotisserie chicken or the wonder of a rum torte from Leslie’s Bakery in Salt Lake City, Utah. She had strong opinions about history, everything from the Middle East to opinions about how Brigham Young should have moved the Mormons south to Provo, “Because it was prettier there.” She firmly believed that the only Pride and Prejudice worth watching was the BBC version because Colin Firth was the quintessential Mr. Darcy.

She loved cats and preferred long hair Persians, or as she said, “Ones who looked like something you should wear.” If reincarnation is real, we should all hope to come back as a cat in Jan’s home. It doesn’t get better than that.

Jan loved her friends and the time they spent together talking and laughing. Whether you were a friend or family, Jan showed her devotion by her willingness to drop everything to help you and entertain you along the way. She will be deeply missed.

A memorial service webcast will be held online September 26, 2020 at 12:30 pm through Sunset Hills Mortuary in Bellevue. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you make a donation to Cure Alzheimer’s Fund.