Haverford activist fought to the end for environment
Jan Marie Rushforth, a passionate crusader, dies at 62
HAVERFORD » The late Jan Marie Rushforth, a spirited community and environmental activist, did not let failing health stop her from speaking out on causes she believed in.
Less than two weeks before succumbing to Stage 4 ovarian cancer on July 29, Rushforth, 62, made a brief video expressing her concerns about climate change, which she viewed as “a moral issue and the most pressing issue of our time.”
“The vast consensus of scientists across the globe is that global warming is real, man made, and left unchecked it will lead to catastrophic consequences for civilization,” Rushforth said in the clip, currently posted on Facebook.
“I believe we are the first generation to see the effects of climate change and the last to be able to head off the worst effects.”
Rushforth further stated her support for the nonpartisan, grassroots advocacy organization, Citizens’ Climate Lobby, which she volunteered with in recent years.
In an all too partisan world, CCL’s approach is to “acknowledge, appreciate and educate toward bipartisan solutions,” Rushforth said.
And, she stated support for the Carbon Fee and Dividend proposal CCL has endorsed.
This policy has been shown by studies to be “good for business, good for job creation, for saving lives, good for the environment and national security,” said Rushforth.
Her final request was for introduction and adoption of such legislation during this congressional session.
Peter Handler, founder of CCL’s Philadelphia chapter, said Rushforth’s passion for the issue was “a powerful force. She cared so deeply about this … that she chose to make talking about climate change her final act.”
Handler said Rushforth had served as liaison to U.S. Rep. Mat Meehan’s office and taken part in recent founding of a Delaware County chapter.
Rushforth was “the heart and emotional center” of CCL’s Southeast Pennsylvania chapters, and the personification of CCL’s nonconfrontational, positive approach, Handler said.
“She had such a quality of radiance and joy about her, it was contagious. She was an amazing person and I will miss her deeply. She will always be with me,” Handler said.
Born Oct. 26, 1954 in Ridgewood, N.J., Janice Marie Husing attended Asbury Park High School and was in the first class to include women at Rutgers College. She held a Master’s degree in counseling education from Texas Tech University.
Rushforth’s sister, Margaret Katz, said community service was a family tradition.
“We saw the examples of our parents and became active participants in our communities. Jan Marie also had a special talent for singing and acting. This allowed her to reach wider audiences and helped her develop her skill of public speaking and ease in front of a microphone. It is not at all surprising, to me, that she reached so many of her personal and professional goals because she was a driven individual that had an enormous amount of energy, amazing organizational skills and the ability to communicate with just about everybody,” she said.
“I am very proud of my sister and I know she has touched so many people and made this world a little brighter.”
Rushforth’s long history of good deeds included establishing a shelter for abused and neglected children in Lubbock, Texas, where she served as youth counselor in 1978.
Advocating for the disabled, Rushforth served as executive director of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Colorado from 1978-80. She conducted fundraising efforts for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in the 1980s, as well.
Rushforth met and married Alan Rushforth in 1987. The couple resided in Lansdowne for 11 years. There, Rushforth began her environmental activism with a campaign to keep household hazardous waste out of the trash stream. She dramatized her point by bringing a 10-pound bag of used batteries to a Delaware County Council meeting. Her efforts helped usher in countywide household hazardous waste pick-ups.
Additionally, Rushforth initiated and coordinated the Lansdowne Tree Planting Program.
Locally, Rushforth is perhaps best remembered for her prominent role in efforts to preserve open space at the former Haverford State Hospital site, undergoing a controversial redevelopment process when the Rushforths moved to Haverford in 1998. Rushforth served on the Haverford State Hospital Consulting Task Force, chaired the Ad Hoc Citizens Haverford State Advisory Board and helped draft a grant application for an ecological inventory.
Thanks to Rushforth and other activists, a plan adopted in 2003, calling for more than 60 acres of housing development on the 209-acre site was rescinded in favor of a plan allotting less space for development, with over 120 acres open space for passive recreation and 45 acres for active recreation, including current athletic fields, a playground, dog park and award-winning Community Recreation and Environmental Center.
Additionally, Rushforth chaired the Haverford Township Environmental Advisory Committee from 2009-14 and was active in the Darby Creek Valley Association. She served a brief stint as interim commissioner in 2008.
Rushforth was a regular speaker at meetings, often defusing tensions with her cheerful, upbeat manner and gifts of candy bars.
Don Kraus, a CCL member, met Rushforth in the 1990s, when she was active in the World Federalist Association. Rushforth led WFA’s Philadelphia chapter and served as vice chair of the executive committee.
“Jan put a lot of work and passion into creation and establishment of the International Criminal Court,” which holds the world’s most heinous criminals accountable for their actions, Kraus said.
“She was very engaged in trying to make that effort happen.”
And, Rushforth helped plan activities to promote a stronger United Nations, peace keeping, human rights, and the International Women’s Day panel to advance ratification of the International Women’s Convention.
“She’s going to be missed,” said Kraus. “She had a warmth, sparkle and passionate energy. She would always sign her email ‘with hugs.’
“There was a caring for people … The legacy she wanted to leave was a world that was more livable and better governed.”
Rushforth worked toward that goal “at local and global levels,” Kraus said.
Assistant Township Manager Tim Denny remembered Rushforth as “a passionate, dedicated, intelligent, cheerful, always polite and always gracious woman.”
Rushforth was the recipient of Main Line Today’s 2015 Green Award, Darby Creek Valley Association’s Ribbon of Green Award, and the Good Citizen Award from Citizens for Good Government.
Friends and family are invited to a visitation 5:30-7 p.m. Aug. 3, followed by a memorial service at the Community Recreation and Environmental Center at Haverford Reserve, 9000 Parkview Drive, Haverford.