Janet A. Burroughs Obituary
Janet Adele Burroughs, formerly of New York City and Nanuet, NY, died on Tuesday, June 7, 2022 at the Joe Raso Hospice Residence in New City, NY, following a long illness. Janet was 78 years old. She loved books, animals, New York City, musicals, the New York Philharmonic, Harry Belafonte, Morocco and lime sherbet.
Janet was born the daughter of Elsie Dora (nee Erbe) Burroughs and Paul Camden Burroughs in Weston, WV on July 19, 1943. At the age of 12, she moved with her mother to Nanuet in Rockland County, NY. Janet graduated from Nyack High School and ultimately joined Pan Am Airlines in the reservation department in 1964. She had a long and successful career as a manager at Pan Am and left in 1981. Her tenure at Pan Am offered her an opportunity for extensive travel and Janet seized that opportunity enthusiastically. She traveled around the globe, and her generosity with her earned travel miles meant her mother, friends and other relatives could do the same.
After leaving Pan Am, Janet returned to university and graduated Summa Cum Laude from Marymount College Manhattan. She earned her Master's Degree in International Studies from Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs. She was impossibly smart, and her extensive library included books on such topics as astrophysics and black holes—all of which she actually read for pleasure.
Janet had a lifelong passion for learning and teaching, and enjoyed a rich and varied career sharing information with others. She worked as a teacher for NOW-NYC in the Direct Marketing Training Program and taught computer skills to people of all ages through a New York Public Library program. She was an adjunct professor of geography at Marymount College and was co-founder of LEAP, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to teaching English to immigrants and refugees. Jan spent her last years prior to retirement as a private tutor for people learning English as a second language.
Janet was predeceased by her longtime partner, Joseph Cristovao, the man she always described as the love of her life. Janet is survived by her cousins, Judi Doherty of Pearl River, NY and William O. Doherty, Jr. of West Haverstraw, NY and his children Daniel, Sean and Angela Doherty.
Funeral services, cremation and burial will be private. Donations in her name may be made to the Alzheimer's Association, P.O. Box 96011, Washington, DC 20090-6011, or the New York Philharmonic, Development Department, 10 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023.
