Janet Elizabeth Muyskens

Janet Elizabeth Muyskens passed away on June 26, 2025. Jan was born on May 10, 1934, to Conelius and Marie Muyskens, in Long Beach New Jersey where she was raised and graduated from Red Bank High School in 1952.

Jan attended Wesleyan University in Ohio and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education in 1956. She then moved to Grand Junction where she taught PE at Grand Junction High School until 1959. Jan then left to serve as a recreation director at the Army Service Club in Germany until 1961.

Returning to the United States in 1961, Jan spent the next seven years completing her master’s degree from Western State college, working at the University of Colorado, and teaching in California before returning to Grand Junction in 1968 to teach physical education.

Jan was recognized as an outstanding physical education teacher at Grand Junction High School, she retired in 1989. She loved her students and would often take them on ski trips in exchange for a free home cooked meal.

Jan was an outstanding craftsman with woodworking and stained glass. She was totally self-sufficient and could build or fix anything. Jan loved animals and always had two or three dogs by her side. She was an avid camper, outstanding tennis and pickleball player and loved to ride her bike. She was a friend to all and will be greatly missed.

Jan was preceded in death by Snafu, BoJo, Scamper, Hobie, Bagel, Buffy, Scruffy and all the feral cats that she fed under her neighbor’s porch.

In leu of flowers please make donations to Royce Hurst Humane Society or Hope West.

A celebration of life will be held at the Canyon View Park Pavilion near the tennis courts off of 24 1/2 Road at 9:00 am on Wednesday, July 2, 2025. Please bring a lawn chair and a memory to share.