Obituary: Jane Margaret Sakal Erickson
1947 – 2024
March 13, 2024
Jane M. Erickson, 1947-2024. Courtesy photo
Jane Margaret Sakal Erickson, 76, of Middlesex, Vermont, died of complications from Covid/pneumonia at Central Vermont Medical Center on February 10, 2024.
Jane was born in Portchester, New York, in 1947 to Emile H. Harry Sakal and Jean Van Cleaf Sakal. The family lived briefly in Massapequa Park, Long Island, before moving to Brookside, New Jersey, in 1955, where she grew up with sisters Laura and Suzy, and brother Marko.
Jane graduated in 1965 from West Morris Regional High School, in Chester, New Jersey. She attended Kentucky Wesleyan College, in Owensboro, Kentucky, for two years, then transferred to her beloved Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. She graduated from WCC with a Bachelor of Music Education degree (organ minor) in 1970. Her life was enriched by a passion for music and performing arts that defined her career in teaching and inspired others as a teacher, performer, director and mentor for 54 more years.
Jane met the love of her life, Glenn Erickson, in 1967 while waiting tables at the Cloister Inn eating club at Princeton University. The two were married in Brookside, New Jersey, in 1970. They started married life in Rapid City, South Dakota, where Glenn was an officer at Ellsworth Air Force Base. They returned east to Maplewood, New Jersey, moving into their home in 1974 on the day their first child, Julianne, was born. Son Thomas was born three years later. Jane and Glenn built a loving and caring family life for Julie and Tom. Maplewood was a special community to Jane for four decades. She was an active member of Prospect Presbyterian Church, The Strollers community theater, and the Summit Chorale.
In 2014, Jane and Glenn moved to Middlesex, Vermont, to live with daughter Julie, son-in-law John, and grandchildren Alden and Ella. She and Glenn built a vibrant life in their new community through involvement in the Onion River Chorus, Mad River Chorale, the Vermont Philharmonic Orchestra Chorus, the Heart of Vermont Quilt Guild, and the Waterbury Congregational Church.
Jane began her teaching career in choral music and theater arts at Douglas High School, located on Ellsworth Air Force Base. She juggled raising her young family with part-time teaching at Future Musicians of America and a brief stint as customer relations manager at Autoland, in Springfield, New Jersey. Jane continued teaching music and drama at Manville High School in Manville, New Jersey, and Millburn High School in Millburn, New Jersey, between 1988 and 2005. She was a mentor to many students, directing and producing many memorable concerts, plays, and musicals, and ran a home piano and voice studio for beginning students. She made lasting connections with her students from Douglas, Manville, and Millburn high schools and the local neighborhoods that endure to this day.
In 2002 Jane was diagnosed with scleroderma, an autoimmune disease that caused pulmonary fibrosis and pulmonary hypertension and, progressively, required the use of supplemental oxygen. She refused to accept the prognosis and constraints suggested to her by doctors, and began charting her own course to try to slow or halt the disease. She was one of the first people in the country to undergo an autologous adult stem cell transplant for her condition. Jane’s friends conducted a major fundraising campaign for the procedure, which helped to extend her life for over two decades. She was a tireless self-advocate and researcher and used the experience to set up a website and mentor others who struggled with scleroderma and pulmonary fibrosis.
Jane's being was grounded not only in her teaching career but also through her relationships with numerous friends and vital community. Christmas caroling, neighborhood softball, church leadership, community choirs, kayaking, block parties, assistance to friends in need, often reciprocated. The friends she had throughout her life created a rich and meaningful tapestry. She and her friends were inseparable through it all.
Everyone who knew Jane knew how much she loved quilting later in life – traditional pieced blocks, landscapes, thread-painted portraits, and photo mosaics. Especially as her mobility became more restricted, she devoted as much time as she could to creating and gifting quilts to family and friends and to charitable enterprises. In what came to be her last community service project, Jane created nearly 20 quilts in 2023 and rallied quilters across Vermont (and as far as Colorado and Florida) to make 80+ more quilts, for donation in December 2023 to guests of the Good Samaritan Haven homeless shelter network in Barre, Vermont.
Quilting, all manner of British television, and a good murder mystery were some of her favorite activities. However, Jane’s favorite role was that of grandparent. She treasured her time with her grandkids, Alden, Ella, and Jasper and loved being their Mena/Nai Nai, never failing to teach when the opportunity arose: how to play the piano, bake, sew, and share.
Jane was preceded in death by her parents, Emile and Jean Sakal, brother Marko Sakal, and brother-in-law John Fausone. She is survived by her husband Glenn; daughter Julie Erickson Bond, son-in-law John Bond, grandson Alden and granddaughter Ella; son Thomas Erickson, daughter-in-law Rime Sun, and grandson Jasper; sister Laura Fausone Carpenter and brother-in-law Marvin Carpenter; sister Suzy McNeil and brother-in-law Hugh McNeil; brothers-in-law J. Mark Erickson and Ray Erickson; and nieces and nephews Giovanni Frank Fausone, John Rametta, Eve Rametta, Leslie Sakal, Lance Erickson and Meredith Ashton.
We couldn’t have asked for a better wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, teacher, or friend, and will miss her every day. Jane’s memory will live on in the hearts of all those who loved her.
A funeral service will be held on Saturday, March 16, at 2 p.m. at the Waterbury Congregational Church UCC, 8 N. Main Street, Waterbury. A Celebration of Life will also be held in June at Prospect Presbyterian Church in Maplewood, New Jersey.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Good Samaritan Haven homeless shelter network in Barre, Vermont; or the University of Vermont Medical Center Foundation (note to be designated to Pulmonary Fibrosis research).