Deep Breath ... When I received the call from the hospital at 0700 on a sunny April morning, I was in shock, and to be honest still am. It was just the night before where my wife, four year old son, and I had visited her at the hospital where she appeared to be recovering well. We had ice cream, told stories, gave hugs, made plans for the next day ... I even got to kiss her good night.
On April 30, 2014 Janice A. Visser cast off and set her sails to the great beyond. Her passing was very sudden and a shock to many, including our family. Mom, just a few days prior, had been volunteering at the Black Star Regatta. At the end of the day, tired and ready to rest, she headed to her car where she tripped on some un-even concrete resulting in a fractured hip. What seemed to be a minor incident then caused a blood clot to form, which traveled through her system, ultimately resulting in a pulmonary embolism that took her away in her sleep a few days later.
Jan was a fixture in the sailing community who is greatly missed. Like many greats before her, she worked tirelessly to ensure that kids had a way to get on the water. Her passions were ignited in the late 80’s, in an effort to keep me occupied during summer break. Mom enrolled me at the local summer sailing program. Little did I know that mom was even more hooked on it than I was. As my interest grew in sailing, so did hers, and she cultivated an unmatched level of support that lit a fire in many. Her fierce independence and dedication led her to create a brand new community program in Olympia known as Corinthian Sailing Club, which reached thousands of kids in our community through learn to sail and racing outlets. Later, her program would merge with OYC in a partnership that we hope to be timeless. Youth Sailing had become her passion and she loved creating opportunities to get kids into sailing.
Many of you know her from her tireless work in the kitchen for the local Toliva Shoal Race. For years, she and several SSSS volunteers would feed the fleet of local and out of town racers, with all proceeds put it into the youth sailing program. A tradition still strong today. [If it was not for Jan, we would still be eating Cosco lasagna instead of Baron of Beef. Ed.]
As her professional career as an auditor with the State wound down and she approached retirement, her volunteer levels reached all-time highs. She served as the Corinthian Sailing Club president, OYC Youth Sailing Director, Board Member of the Sailing Foundation, Secretary Treasurer for PIYA, Member of the Washington Boating Safety Council, US Sailing Youth Championship Director, and beyond.
Further, she was a key architect and creator of the WIND Youth Racing Clinic and Ripple Optimist Youth Racing Clinic in Cascade Locks.
Jan lived a full life and her passing reminds us all of the impact she has had on ours. Mom’s accomplishments were many, to which I am so very proud. She worked tirelessly, with love in her heart and gave all that she had.
Jan was so many things to so many people. Her sudden passing left many in shock and without a proper goodbye. While she is no longer here in body, her spirit lives on in our community. You can see her works in the smiling faces of children learning to sail for the first time on Budd Inlet. You can connect with her spirit through the volunteers that help put on sailing events for young and old.
Through this process, our family and friends have been through a myriad of emotions, from loss to sadness to guilt and beyond. Personally, in the end, I have chosen to land on "proud". I’m so very proud of the work she had done, her selflessness, her passion, her dedication and her volunteerism.
As a dear friend remarked to me in the wake of her passing, “Your mom was a champion. She changed the lives of so many. She directly changed my life and made this world a better place. That is her legacy”
We’re so very proud of you Mom and will miss you forever more.
Jan’s son, Mike
In her honor, there has been a scholarship fund setup through PIYA to benefit youth sailing. The funds will be used to help introduce kids to sailing or to help fund a sailing athlete to make it to the next level.
PIYA
Jan Visser Youth Sailing Scholarship
PO Box 523
Olympia, WA 98507
Jan did at least as much for the sport of sailing, and for kids, as anyone in the Club. The youth sailing program took over twenty years to be truly established. A lot of those onboard now were not so helpful twenty years ago. For a long time it was all her.
But it was not just what she did here, for SSSS and Olympia kids. She was active at all levels, including nationally.
Mike mentions she was PIYA Secretary. There she put her accounting training to good use. Their books were a total mess when she took over. She will be missed there too, for very practical reasons as well as the personal ones. I forget what she did while on the sailing Foundation Board that made her so popular at SYC. That is the problem, she did so much it is hard to remember all of it.
Personally though, I think Jan was most proud of the kids, those that went through the programs, and most of all, her own. If you know them you know why.
Ed.