With great sadness I convey the passing of Jan Wescott.
Jan and I met in the late 90's when I hosted meets here in the valley, Jan and Bob her husband wanted to see the division flourish so they asked what they could do to help. We started talking and came up with some many ideas to help the division. When I was putting on the PSR convention for 2001 Jan and I teamed up to host the convention, little did we know what was about to happen that week. Jan and I formed a great friendship then and after the convention, having her over for Thanksgiving dinner before she moved east was a real treat for her and myself. We kept in touch and had communication over the years and just two months ago we talked about old times and what we both were doing this year. I was looking forward to an email exchange during this Holiday season to "catch up" but it did not happen. I will miss you my friend.
Ed Hall
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Here is what was in the NMRA E-Bulletin:
In Memoriam
Jan Wescott (1940-2020)
Jan Wescott, one of the driving forces in the NMRA during the decade of the 2000s, passed away on Christmas Day, 2020.? Her 80th birthday was less than a week away.
Wescott had spent her career in human resources at a leading hotel chain and thus had a keen interest in what made people tick.? She became interested in the NMRA in the 1990s when her husband Robert built a model railroad in their Las Vegas home. Wescott was soon hosting Cajon Division meets at her house, and brought new life and energy to the Division by instituting a myriad of activities.
Her energy and enthusiasm didn't go unnoticed by NMRA National, and in the early 2000s the late John Roberts, then NMRA president, appointed her chair of the NMRA's Education Department.? In 2005 she was made chair of the Membership Services and Promotion Department (MSP) where she developed several new programs, including membership contests and the first NMRA news eblasts, which were sent to Region Presidents and Division Superintendents.? She received an Honorary Life Membership in 2009, and when the MSP Department was divided and absorbed by other departments in 2010, Wescott retired from service to the NMRA.
After her husband Robert's death, Wescott moved first to Tennessee and then to rural Alabama.
Bob Chaparro