Jan Gardner, who was a teacher in the Lake Washington School District and a resident of Sammamish, passed away on Feb. 6, after a heroic, six-and-a-half-year battle with cancer. She was 55.

Her husband Chris Gardner said, “She fought her disease with tenacious courage and bravery, always maintaining a positive and hopeful attitude to the very end. Throughout the ordeal, she continued to devote herself to her profession as a kindergarten teacher, demonstrating both her zeal for life and her deep-seated love for teaching children. While in the midst of chemotherapy, radiation and teaching full-time, she earned her Masters degree in December 2006. She touched the hearts and minds of every child and parent she met and served as a model of inspiration for her family, co-workers and friends. She will be forever sadly missed by all who knew her.”

Jan was born in Miami, Florida on Jan. 5, 1954 to Fred and Emily Ehrhorn. After graduating from North Miami High School, she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Education from Florida Atlantic University in June 1976, graduating Phi Kappa Phi.

She taught school for four years, but her love of travel and desire for additional challenges drew her to a new carer as a flight attendant with Air Florida Airlines, where she excelled as an in-flight supervisor on the DC-10 aircraft, flying international routes.

It was there that she met her future husband, whom she married on Nov. 27, 1981.

Following the bankruptcy of Air Florida in 1984, she and her husband moved to Minneapolis, where she continued to work as a flight attendant with Sun Country Airlines. Within two years, she and Chris relocated to Seattle and bought a house in the area now known as the Sammamish Plateau.

In 1989, Jan gave birth to her daughter Jennifer and for the next few years, devoted herself to motherhood. When her daughter was four years old, she returned to teaching by taking a position as a preschool teacher with Toby School.

By 1995, she had earned her Washington state teaching certificate and was back in the kindergarten classroom at Redmond Elementary School. In the fall of 1998, she transferred to Louisa May Alcott Elementary in Redmond, where she remained for the duration of her career.

She was a prolific reader and excellent bowler and enjoyed skydiving, hiking, skiing, swimming and racquetball, said Chris.

In addition to her husband, she is survived by her daughters Jennifer and Amber (Baker), her mother Emily Ehrhorn, her sister Barbara (Byerley) and her cats Smokey and Chemo.