In Memory

Janis Piwetz (Esenwein)

Janis Piwetz (Esenwein)

Janis Lynn Piwetz  (Esenwein)
1949-2017



Published in Houston Chronicle on Apr. 5, 2017
     Janis Lynn (Piwetz) Esenwein passed on to join her beloved family and our Lord above on Thursday, the 30th of March 2017.
     Jan was born in Houston, TX on the 10th of November 1949, the youngest daughter to Effie and Florian "Pete" Piwetz.
     Jan dedicated her career to the service of others by working in planning and logistics in the medical field. Beginning in the New York City Health and Hospitals system, she then brought her talents back home to Houston in 1977. She served our city's medical community starting with Memorial Hospital and then to M.D. Anderson in 1980. During her 37 years at M. D Anderson, Jan rose to the position of Program Manager as she supported ground breaking medical research.
     Her passion however was in helping to establish the Society for Neuro Oncology, a worldwide organization dedicated to advancing research and treatment of brain cancer, where she served as its Chief Administrative Officer since 1996.
     Jan was a devoted servant of the Society, and played a vital role in helping to create the dynamic organization that the Society for Neuro Oncology (SNO) is today. She was considered the matriarch of the Society. She personally folded and sealed the first membership notices, and for many years the main SNO telephone rang in her living room. She knew most members by name, and took a genuine and fond interest in their work and activities. In recognition of her many years of devoted service to the Society, she was awarded with the SNO Public Service Award during the Annual Meeting in 2015. Throughout her career, she supported the vision and efforts of the Society's founders, helping the organization to rise to a level of participation and activity that few would have predicted over 20 years ago.
     Jan's passions did not stop there. A full-blooded Czech decedent, she had an insatiable desire to sleuth through her family's genealogical history. This led to her interest in charting the histories of Houston and Texas' Czechoslovakian population. Through her own research and partnership with the Texas Czech Heritage Society she aided in making genealogical connections for Texas Czechs to their decedents dating back to the 1600's.
     A devoted Daughter, Mother, Grandmother and friend; Jan was truly a revered and pinnacle part of our family. She was always a source of grace, beauty and brightness. Our family would like to thank those that have been most supportive through our loss.
     She is survived by her Mother, Effie Piwetz; her siblings, and their families; Jackie and Mike LeMoine, Mike and Mary Jo Piwetz, Mark and Eddie Kay Piwetz, Marty and Mary Piwetz. Her children; eldest son Sean Clark and wife Janet, her grandchildren Ethan and Alexa, middle son Richard Esenwein and daughter Sarah.
     Friends are cordially invited to greet the family during a visitation from five o'clock in the afternoon until seven o'clock in the evening on Thursday, the 6th of April, in the Jasek Chapel of Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston, where the recitation of the Holy Rosary will commence at five o'clock.
     The funeral mass is to be offered at ten o'clock in the morning on Friday, the 7th of April, at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, 204 E. Bell Street in Fayetteville, Texas.
The Rite of Committal will follow at St. John the Baptist Catholic Cemetery in Fayetteville, Texas. Following the burial, all are invited to greet the family during a reception to be held in the Parish Hall of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church.
     In lieu of customary remembrances, and for those desiring, memorial contributions may be directed toward the Society for Neuro Oncology, PO Box 273296, Houston, TX 77277-3296. (http://www.soc-neuro-onc.org/donations/)

 



 
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12/19/22 06:09 PM #1    

Florene Schroeder (Kirsch)

Janis Esenwein obituary, 1949-2017, Bellaire, TX

 


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