Memories of Janice "Jan" K. Brisack

In memory of

Janice "Jan" K. Brisack

Houston, TX, USA

March 23, 1937 - August 31, 2020

Mar 23, 1937 - Aug 31, 2020

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Chris Brisack

This is Chris, Jan's son. Thanks to all of you who keep her in your cherished memories. Her story lives on in so many of you.

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Claire-Rémy Poché

Even losing you, the joking voice, a gesture

I love) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident

the art of losing’s not too hard to master

though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.

-Elizabeth Bishop

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Michelle Taylor

I am so sorry to see that Mrs. Brisack has passed away. I regret not reaching out over the years, & wish I had reconnected with her. She taught me both freshman & AP English at Jones, & was just a wonder to me. Her enthusiasm for literature, music, & art was contagious, & her support of her students was tireless. I had a very chaotic home life, & Mrs. B was there for me in a way my family just wasn't able to be. I still have my first journal, with her many insightful comments, & my copies of Papyrus, as well. I have continued to journal all these 30 years that have passed since high school. She was a woman who radiated joy, & her teaching methods were creative & fun. I am very grateful to have been taught by her, & I send my regrettably late condolences to all her family, loved ones, & students.

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Barbara Mills

Just saw the "Google Doodle" for today Teacher's Day. A day for Jan if ever there was one!

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Mary Murphy- Bayless

1952, New London, CT, USA

The special memory that Jan and I laughed about, in our later years, was Jan’s rare misbehaving moment at Williams Memorial Institute, our New London, Connecticut high school back in 1952. One day, our boisterous singing in the locker room after gym class aroused the ire of the music teacher upstairs, who came stomping down the metal circular stairway, shouting that we were to report to the Principal’s office for detention. In response, I told Jan to follow me and we headed to the back of the shower room, where we managed to get a window open. We threw our backpacks out onto the ground and dived out after them. Grabbing our packs, we raced for the corner of the building to escape. We were almost home free when we were stopped by a hall-monitor, who was not sympathetic to our protests of “unfair.” Our escapade ended with a visit to Gertrude Moon, the principal, who was shocked that Jan would join me in such folly. Folly it might have been, but a bonding event for the two of us that we’d remember for the rest of our lives.

Jan was an athlete as well as an ace student. She was good at basketball, field ball and softball as well as Tennis, her specialty. Staying after school in New London for sports often meant missing the school bus home to Niantic. Because of this she often stayed the night with my family, who welcomed her as fondly as if she were their fifth daughter.

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Bradley Tatar

Mary, thank you for sharing this treasured memory. We all knew that Jan had a boisterous side, but this confirms... Read more Mary, thank you for sharing this treasured memory. We all knew that Jan had a boisterous side, but this confirms that she was ... Read more Mary, thank you for sharing this treasured memory. ... Read more

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Today when I heard a song that mentioned the word "cosmos" I thought of Jan and her love for the deep yellow... Read more Today when I heard a song that mentioned the word "cosmos" I thought of Jan and her love for the deep yellow cosmos. A moment ... Read more Today when I heard a song that mentioned the word "cosmos"... Read more

Barbara Mills

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Barbara Mills

Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Bissonnet Street, Houston, TX, USA

Jan and Laura Mills

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Barbara Mills

Do you think Jan was having fun in this pic? - She was always having fun. Do you think Jan was having fun in this pic? - She was always having fun. Do you think Jan was having fun in this pic? - She ... Read more

Mary Crawford

Jan was my homeroom teacher and I think the first grown up to really encourage me to sharey feelings. Whenever I journal I think of her. She always new just what to say and when I needed help she got me into counseling and that changed the trajectory of my life.
Without the counseling, I would have never had the courage to leave Houston and go away to college on my own.
Like many others we journaled back and forth throughout my high school years and whenever I was back in town I would try to stop by Jones if I could.
Her laugh was so infectious and her heart was so big!
Lots of love to all her family and friends. Jan was one of a kind!

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Jones High School Vanguard Program

When Jan passed away, I saw many others who had been her students, saying "I wouldn't have become what I am now if it weren't for Jan." How could they have felt the same about her as I had? So I reflected on that and this is what I've realized. I was an underperformer, someone who never reached the possible potential me. I thought I would never even be able to go to college. But Jan could always see the best me possible, the best of who I am and what I could become. But she was no empty flatterer. She would say, "Ah, you don't believe me? Let me prove that I'm right about you." And then she could list four or five solid reasons why she thought the way she did. And then, after spending some time with her, I felt like my right self, the me who is good, and who would achieve good things. Well, let us say that she was just a very motivational person for those who were lucky enough to know her as a teacher as well as a friend.

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Brent Mills

Jan, I will miss your smile, your exuberant nature and the way that you you made others feel good about themselves. You embodied what a “teacher” is all about. Your legacy will live on!

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Barbara Mills

So glad we moved into the house next door to Jan :) So glad we moved into the house next door to Jan :) So glad we moved into the house next door to Jan :)... Read more

Brent Mills

Jan with her good friend Barbara Mills

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Barbara Mills

2014, Houston, TX, USA

Jan's lovely cosmos garden

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Barbara Mills

2014, Houston, TX, USA

Jan loved cosmos and would spend lots of time carefully planting the seeds in her garden. As summer progressed the flowers would grow over our heads. I would run over to her house to take pictures of the cosmos. Sometimes she would direct. At the end of the growing season she would collect all the seeds and save them for next year.

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Barbara, Its wonderful that you were able to be the accomplice to Jan's gardening adventures! Barbara, Its wonderful that you were able to be the accomplice to Jan's gardening adventures! Barbara, Its wonderful that you were able to be the... Read more

Barbara Mills

2014, Jan's Backyard

Jan's beloved "Snoopy" who slept with her very night and helped her through her Parkinson's struggle.

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Jan had so many animals over the years that she would rescue from here and there, wayward and abandoned dogs... Read more Jan had so many animals over the years that she would rescue from here and there, wayward and abandoned dogs and cats. Each one... Read more Jan had so many animals over the years that she would... Read more

Barbara Mills

2019, Houston, TX, USA

Halloween party 2019

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Barbara Mills

Once I got Jan for a next door neighbor, I could not resist inviting her to every Holiday party - (Laura ... Read more Once I got Jan for a next door neighbor, I could not resist inviting her to every Holiday party - (Laura Mills, Barbara Mills,... Read more Once I got Jan for a next door neighbor, I could not... Read more

Barbara Mills

Jan's baby pic

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Barbara Mills

When Chris gave the big birthday party for Jan's 80th Birthday, many pictures were collected. I happen to... Read more When Chris gave the big birthday party for Jan's 80th Birthday, many pictures were collected. I happen to have some of those digital... Read more When Chris gave the big birthday party for Jan's 80th... Read more

Jeremy Thompson

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Marybelle Perez Albrecht

She inspired me to become an educator. In her classroom we learned how to reflect and connect to literature. I still have my journals and my copies of Papyrus. She was a caring and loving being. She will be missed and remembered.

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It is so cool that you still have all your copies of Papyrus! It is so cool that you still have all your copies of Papyrus! It is so cool that you still have all your copies of... Read more

Yael (formerly Sylvia) Bat-Shimon (formerly Bernard)

Jan Brisack was an amazing human being with a magnificent heart. She was my high school English teacher back in the 1980's, but she was much more than that title implies. Jan was enthusiastic in a way that sometimes felt uncomfortable to me, maybe a little "over the top," which for a teenager can be embarrassing, but it was that genuineness and the depth and breadth of her self-expression that gave me permission to feel all of my own inner chaos, longing and joy. As growing human beings, we need mirroring. We need to be seen and encouraged and validated. In reading my pages and pages of journals and making her copious comments in the margins and all the other blank spaces she could find, Jan gave me the mirroring I needed. She helped me feel that I was not alone, that I had value, that my intense internal struggles had a purpose and did not make me crazy. She also nourished in me a delight in words, in literature, in the magic healing power of creativity. Long after my graduation from Jones in 1985, we remained friends. In times of crisis, I would reach out to her, knowing that she would remind me of who I am. Jan is a part of me because she is a part of my beginning to know myself.

To her children: I only remembering meeting one of you, because we went to school together, so I don't know you or your relationships with your mother. But I want to say that I imagine it wasn't always easy to be her child. I don't know what it might have been like to share her attention with so many students or how her intensity affected you as her children in a way that it might not have affected us as her students. I have had my own struggles to accept my parents as the very imperfect human beings they are and to make peace with the ways they weren't able to meet me or see me and even some devastating ways in which they deeply hurt me. Every child, I suppose, has her own journey of making peace with her parents. I pray that each of you is able to find some sense of peace and acceptance that makes room for all the aspects of who your mother was, a complex woman who gave much love to many. I am deeply grateful to her and to all of you who shared her with us. Chris, a special thanks to you for keeping us all informed on Facebook. I am sorry for your loss and wish you all the love and support you need through this difficult time.

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Jess Bier

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Kim Carter

Jan K Brisack—not only a master of literature, film and art, but also a gem of philosophy and social consciousness. She inspired students like me, and others from all walks of life, to look inward—to contemplate and appreciate humanity in all its various, twisted configurations. She possessed an effervescent soul that trusted profoundly in our mutual goodness and ability to thrive. She made sure that we understood to look to literature,, art and each other to heal! I hope you read this Cathy Brisack! She has influenced us all deeply!!!
With great sorrow but with great love and trust in her continued presence in all of us, I wish her farewell! Kim Carter

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April Aguren

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Carnetta Washington

Class of 1990 Jones Vanguard Carnetta Harris Washington. Praying for her children and hope that you know your mom poured into sooo many lives. She may be gone physically but her legacy will live on forever!! A great teacher is never forgotten and a great teacher gives of themselves selfishly. Thanks for sharing her with us!

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Kim Carter

Jan K Brisack—not only a master of literature, film and art, but also a quiet Buddha-like figure, who inspired... Read more Jan K Brisack—not only a master of literature, film and art, but also a quiet Buddha-like figure, who inspired people from all... Read more Jan K Brisack—not only a master of literature, film... Read more