Camp counselor, math professor, actor in local productions

Michael Janocko thought he knew his wife of 23 years pretty well, but he learned more about Sally Bachovchin-Janocko after her death.

The camp counselor, math professor, consultant and actor, who died June 24 at her Monroeville home at the age of 71, left behind quite the legacy, Mr. Janocko, 76, said.

He found newspapers that showed her as Monessen High School’s valedictorian and tops in her class in mathematics. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in math before teaching the subject at Glen Oaks Community College in Centreville, Mich.

She later worked at Westinghouse Electric as a benefits administrator for 16 years before joining Business Information Technology as a traveling consultant for 14 years.

In retirement, she took up acting, landing roles in local productions of “The Crucible,” “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Into the Woods.”

What remained a constant throughout Mrs. Bachovchin-Janocko’s life, though, was her desire to travel. She and her husband took cruises to places including Mexico, Alaska, Hawaii and Amsterdam.

Mr. Janocko said one of his wife’s favorite practices was sending cards to people on their birthdays.

One of the most recent birthday cards she gave him was of two wrinkled dogs wearing hats.

“There’s no one I’d rather get old and wrinkly and have a weird smell with than you,” the card said.

His wife added her own note at the bottom: “We’ll just keep on smiling and hugging and loving.”

And that’s just what they did — even when she had a stroke in December and then was told she had an advanced stage of cancer in March.

Mr. Janocko said his grandchildren and her stepgrandchildren — twin 8year-old girls — made drawings for his wife when she got sick. He said the drawings are still hanging in the kitchen with the words, “Grandma Sally we love you and feel better.”

Even though she never had children of her own, Mrs. Bachovchin-Janocko showered love on her nieces and later great-nieces, said her sister, Suzy Dillon of Crawford County.

“We will always remember that she was a very caring person and she never asked for anything for herself and always thought of others first,” added a sisterin-law, Andrea Bachovchin of Belle Vernon.

In addition to her husband and sister, Mrs. Bachovchin-Janocko is survived by two brothers, Joe Bachovchin of Belle Vernon and Nick Bachovchin of Marlborough, Mass; two other sisters, Nancy Dunmeyer of Belle Vernon and Becky Beck of Greenville, Mercer County; two stepchildren; and two stepgrandchildren.

Mr. Janocko said his wife’s gravestone will bear the cross symbol of Lutherlyn, a camp in Butler County she attended for eight years and was a counselor at for six as a young woman.

The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Patrick T. Lanigan Funeral Home & Crematory, followed by burial at Monongahela Cemetery.

Memorial donations may be made to Doctors Without Borders, 333 Seventh Ave., New York, NY 10001.

Anna Spoerre: aspoerre@post-gazette or 412263-4871.