A Life Well-Lived - Jan Steinmark

Very shortly after starting work at McCollough Branch Library in Evansville, IN, I received an e-mail from a woman at East Branch named Jan Steinmark. She ended it by telling me how wonderful her PT Cruiser was. Huh... Seemeed a bit quirky but whatever. A few weeks later I received another e-mail, and another and another all extoling the virtues of her purple PT Cruiser. Ugh! I thought. Enough already, we get it, you love your car, it reminds you of the past, get over it and move on!"

Years later I was moved to Central Library and had the honor of being paired up with Jan Steinmark to work on Saturdays. Just the two of us. My first thought? Does she still have that dang car? 

What I learned, when I finally took the time and effort to get to know Jan was that the P T Cruiser obsession didn't mean Jan was stuck in the past. It meant that she loved to know about who she was, who her family was, where she and others came from. She was infinitely curious about others and their lives. She loved teaching people! She was passionate about helping others and wanted to see them succeed in whatever endeavors they chose. 

When Jan found a project, she often turned it into a mission. She liked to knit so she started making hats and scarves for cancer patients and bears for babies. She made a cat toy for her babies that they seemed to like so she made enough for the whole children's department at the library to try them out. The same with bookmarks and jewelry.

On our Saturdays together Jan very politely listened to me read children's books out-loud, oohing and ahhing in the appropriate places. She joined me in loving the simple joys and deep lessons that can be found in children's literature. 

One Saturday I read a book called Subway Story by Julia Sarcone-Roach about a beloved subway car that eventually became old and found itself in a junkyard, sad and alone. Then one glorious day the subway was taken and put into the ocean to become a part of a coral reef and it wasn't long before the subway car was once again loved and full of friends. Jan shared with me that she wanted to be cremated after she died and her ashes added to a coral reef off of Florida. This way she said she would always be a part of making the world a better place.

That was Jan, stubborn, yes, driven, to a fault, a lover of all things kitsch, and also one of the most caring people I have had the privilege to know. 

Rest well my friend.