Jan B. Penn

1951—2025

Monterey

It’s with great sadness that we announce the death of Jan Burchell Penn on July 7th, 2025, after a brave two-year battle with cancer. She was 73 years old.

Jan was born in Carmel on September 30th, 1951, to Bion and Helen Burchell, and grew up in the house her father built on Monterey’s Lobos Street. A lifelong resident of Monterey, she graduated from Monterey High School in 1969 and earned her associate’s degree from Monterey Peninsula College in 1971.

Involved in artistic roller skating since the age of six, Jan competed for 15 years, including at the National Championships, and taught for 12 years. Roller skating became the family business when brother Keith bought Monterey’s Del Monte Gardens Skating Arena in 1997, and Jan took great joy in sharing her love of skating with her nephews, children, and grandchildren. She also worked for the Pediatric Group of Monterey and Paul Kagan Associates in Carmel.

Jan was an accomplished artist. She gifted portraits to family and friends, sold her work on Etsy, volunteered for Monte Vista Elementary’s art docent program, and painted stage sets for numerous productions at Monte Vista and Colton Middle School. Her home, too, was a work of art: She delighted in designing spaces that were both cozy and inspiring, creating inviting nooks and colorful vignettes. Pink and yellow walls, a forest green kitchen island, and collections of Fiestaware and vintage toys filled her home with playful exuberance, and she never met a white wall she wasn’t itching to paint. This exuberance extended to her personal style. When she lost her hair during chemotherapy, she gamely embraced fun, patterned headscarves and dangly statement earrings.

Jan was loving, kind, funny, smart, youthful, creative, brave, inspiring, thoughtful (she never forgot a birthday, not even the dogs’!), and deeply, profoundly wise. She was a devoted friend, an antiquing expert, and a vegetarian since the age of 19 (and a vegan since 2007). A master of puns, wordplay, and puzzles, she was proud of the Wordle streak she maintained even through multiple hospital stays. As a genealogy enthusiast and the keeper of photo albums and family memories, she was the go-to source for family history.

Jan is survived by her husband Dr. George H. Penn of Monterey; daughter Amanda Penn of Monterey, stepdaughter Mary Kate Legaspi (Kenny) of Fresno, and stepson Michael Penn (Elizabeth) of San Carlos; grandsons Joshua and Alex Legaspi of Fresno; brothers Keith Burchell (Jenell) of Marina and Dennis Burchell of Phoenix, AZ; sister-in-law Mary Penn and sons of Washington, PA; nephews Greg Burchell (Tracy) of Salinas, Brad Burchell of Marina, and Patrick Burchell (Adrianne) of Mesa, AZ; and many other family members and friends who loved her dearly. She is also survived by her faithful terrier-mix Olive. She was preceded in death by son Zachary Penn in 2015 and stepson Brian Penn in 2004.

A memorial service will be held on July 25th, 11 a.m. at The Paul Mortuary.