Janice Helen Squier (Jan) passed peacefully on August 14, 2024, at her home in Boise, Idaho, at the age of 91, in the company of her family.
Jan was born in Rockland, Massachusetts, on December 31, 1932. She was an only child and adored her family, often expressing delight at growing up in a home over flowing with laughter, kindness, and love.
She attended Colby College in Waterville, Maine, where she studied piano and English literature and graduated magna cum laude in 1954.
After graduation, she worked for the Massachusetts Department of Public Works and later at the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University. She also taught for a year at Hillsdale School in Cincinnati, Ohio.
In 1957, while a student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, she married fellow student Charles L. Squier. She was offered a scholarship to continue her studies at Harvard, but moved instead to Ann Arbor, Michigan, with her husband while he completed a Ph.D., where their first child, Alison, was born in 1961. She and her husband moved again from Ann Arbor to Boulder, Colorado, in 1963, where she gave birth to their second child, Charles L. S. Squier.
A skilled pianist, Jan began teaching piano privately shortly after moving to Boulder. She taught piano for 36 years and was beloved by her students, who ranged in age from 7 to 80 years. Jan believed that her students should not be bullied to practice or perform but rather encouraged to fall in love with music so they might enjoy it throughout their lives no matter what level of skill they reached.
Towards that end, all her students received a home-baked cookie at each lesson, and many also benefited from the informal counseling and emotional support they received during their piano lessons. Jan was also a talented composer, writing for the piano, piano and voice, and violin and piano.
She was an adept artist in many mediums, including writing, illustration, painting, cooking, and potter y. As a potter, she worked principally in porcelain, and her pots were strongly influenced by her experience teaching English in China from 1981 to 1982. She was a longtime Boulder Potter's Guild member and ser ved as its Board Secretary and President.
She was also a member of the Boulder Bach Festival's Board of Directors and its Secretary for nine years. She attended St. John's Episcopal Church for a time, where she was a lay eucharistic minister.
Her heart and temperament aligned also with the simplicity of the Congregational church she grew up in.
In 2015, Jan and her husband moved to Boise, Idaho, to be closer to their family.
She immediately became active in their new community, teaching art classes, per forming music, and enthusiastically participating in ever y learning opportunity.
Jan was a funny, fun-loving, giving, and playful person. She rarely complained about anything, always looking to the best of any situation. Jan was gregarious, curious, and, above all, a people person. She collected stories, listened with a unique intensity and care, and made those she interacted with feel fully seen and heard.
Jan was a loyal wife, loving mother, tremendous friend, and a powerful woman. She will be missed tremendously by those who knew her.
Jan is survived by her daughter, Alison Squier and son, Charles L. S. Squier, of Boise, Idaho.
In place of flowers or contributions, should you wish to honor Jan, the family invites you to reflect on the beauty of trees and their ability just to be trees, or to notice the sound and flash of a raptor, or enjoy the texture and heft of lovely piece of hand-made pottery, or participate in any cultural event that thrills your heart. And, of course, please indulge a fond memory of Jan.