Dr. Janette Lillian Packer
Dr. Janette Lillian Packer resident of White Horse Village in Media, PA, age 84, died on February 25, 2018.
Janette’s early years were lived in London, England during WWII. The bombing of London was of grave concern to many and children like Janette were evacuated to families outside of the city. This evacuation brought some interesting learnings, e.g., how to crawl under fences and poach rabbits. Unfortunately, it also interrupted her schooling. Yet, in her normal, persevering way, Janette managed to finish her schooling and ended up with a Doctorate in Education and two Masters Degrees.
Janette had a lifelong curiosity about how things worked. She took apart two pairs of DeVecker’s Iris Scissors, the second one only because she couldn’t get the first one back together. She thought that taking apart the second one would help demonstrate how to put them back together. It failed and, sister, her supervisor had to help.
One tale Jan tells is about the time (in a culturally different era) she spanked a royal bottom. Her young charge (about two-three years old) had bitten another child and Jan dutifully did a gentle spanking on the Pakistani royal bottom. Probably the only reader to have done so.
Jan or Jane (as she was known to many), loved to garden, she was an avid golfer, loved good cars, played tennis, to swim and ride the waves for hours, rode her motorcycle (during the gas crisis). Jan also loved classical music (may have begun after hearing Peggy Wolford Davies play while Jan was evacuated to Devonshire during WWII); she loved attending theatre in London and Philadelphia; loved musicals.
She began her nursing training at age sixteen at Moorfields Ophthalmic Hospital in London. She eventually had an Associate Professorship at the University of Pennsylvania and later became dean of the Nursing School at Widener University. She was instrumental in initiating the Ph.D. in Nursing program at both schools. She was dedicated to excellence in nursing education and nursing care. This continued into her retirement years. Above all Jan loved nursing and teaching.
Jan was active in many national and state nursing associations. She was recognized by the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for her invaluable contributions to the nursing profession, the Pennsylvania State Board of Nurse Examiners and the Widener University School of Nursing. She was a member of Sigma Theta Tau, Phi Kappa Phi, and Widener University Honor Societies.
Later in life, Jan stated that she had never flown a kite. After several kites ranging from the traditional diamond shaped model to Delta wing stunt kites, Jan and her wife Ursula fell in love with flying Revolution Kites (four handles and about six feet long). They even took them to England to fly on the White Cliffs of Dover.
Jan is survived by her beloved wife, Ursula. She was cherished by her nephews Geoffrey, and Christopher and their wives Andrea and Judy. She was beloved by her great nieces and nephews, Jeffrey, Danny, Hailey, Kelsey, and Carmen. She is also survived by a greatgreat-nephew Zakk and a great-great-great-nephew Harlan. Jan is survived by sisters, Sheryl and Jan Somerville, a part of her “American Family” since the early 60’s. She will be missed by many friends.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Jan’s name may be made to: SPIN (Special People in Northeast), 10521 Drummond Rd, Philadelphia, PA 19154. Online condolences: www.donohuefuneralhome.com. Arrs. by: The Donohue Funeral Home, 3300 West Chester Pike, Newtown Square PA 19073