Janice Lou (Koehler) Lehrman

Born in New Jersey on July 19, 1935, to Frances H and Julius Koehler Jr., Janice (Jan) was the youngest of two children. Raised with her brother Frank in a multigenerational home in Maplewood, New Jersey, Jan spent her youth learning the joys of horseback riding, playing violin, taking ballet, and exploring farm life when visiting her extended family in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

She graduated from Mount Holyoke College (Massachusetts) in 1957. Shortly after graduation, she married Albert Dahling and moved to Akron, Ohio, where they started their young family. They eventually moved to Connecticut where their family grew to five children including ‘mom’s favorite,’ her youngest daughter Diane. Later, Jan re-entered the workforce as a psychotherapist at a mental health clinic in Manchester (CT). She then embraced a multi-year career in Cigna’s employee assistance program (EAP) where she met the love of her life, Gary Lehrman. Perhaps her most rewarding job was her last, in Connecticut’s Office of Early Childhood’s Birth to Three program at LEARN, where she provided guidance and hope to countless families as they navigated their child’s developmental challenges.

She resided at the Commonwealth Senior Living Home in Haddam, Connecticut for the past six years, holding hands each day with Gary. Jan’s smile lit up a room and her warmth, sense of adventure, and quick wit made her a treasured friend and colleague throughout her life. Her love of family gatherings, gardening, reading, Broadway musicals, and travel kept her happily busy and fulfilled.

She taught her children to be resilient, gave them the opportunity to explore their individual passions, and nourished their love for food, family, and celebration. She also inspired many throughout her life as a tenacious advocate on behalf of Diane and her special needs. She became recognized as a role model and early champion for in-school mainstreaming, special education opportunities, and independent living pathways.

Jan is survived by her husband Gary Lehrman and his loving devotion to her was in itself a love story of true and deep caring. Her 5 children will forever miss her including her daughter and son-in-law, Susan and D. Martin Sullivan of Mashpee, MA; her daughter and son-in-law, Gail and Stewart Hench of Clinton, CT; her son and daughter-in-law Robert and Lauren Dahling of Katonah, NY; her daughter, Lynn Dahling of Salem, MA; and her daughter, Diane Dahling of Clinton, CT. She is also survived by three grandchildren including Alex and Rachel Dahling of Katonah, NY, and Kelsey Dahling-Okwandu, her husband Charles, and great-granddaughters Summer and Skylar of Unionville, CT; and by her brother and sister-in-law, Frank and Beverly Koehler of Sarasota, FL, and their daughter Joyce.

Janice will be buried in a private service on September 22. In lieu of flowers, friends are invited to donate in Jan’s memory to CT Special Olympics or High Hopes Therapeutic Riding Center in Old Lyme, CT.