In Memory

Janet Baecker (Schoenberg)

Janet Baecker (Schoenberg)



 
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05/24/17 09:54 PM #1    

Teresa Barmatz (Freedman)

In the summer of 1963, I received a letter from my assigned Swarthmore roommate, Jan Baecker, who at the time was attending a combined science and music summer program. In awe, and somewhat fearful, I didn’t know what to expect in the fall, but the Dean had paired us wisely, two petite Jewish girls interested in science. Jan continued with her science and violin, as concertmistress of the Swarthmore orchestra and an honors biology major. She loved making puns. We were roommates all four years at Swarthmore, were part of each other’s wedding parties, lived in apartments in the same house in Branford, PA, when my son Eric and Jan’s son Neil were born, a month apart in 1977. Jeff and I regularly visited Jan and David Schoenberg and their children Neil and Rachael in Lawrenceville, NJ on our way back to Syracuse from the Jersey shore; we shared the milestones of our children’s Bar or Bat Mitzvahs, and her daughter Rachael’s wedding. Jan earned a Masters of Public Health at Yale, and was an epidemiologist at the New Jersey Department of Health for 16 years. One day Jan called to say she was having some problems with her balance. Her condition worsened, and she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She continued with her work as long as she was able. One of her saddest moments as her disease progressed was when she could no longer play her violin. Swarthmore provided Jan and me with a close, enduring friendship. The last time she and I were together at Swarthmore was at our 35th reunion, when Jan was already confined to a wheelchair. She passed away in January, 2010.

--Tess Barmatz Freedman


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