September 7, 1945 – May 14, 2023

Janet Haines passed away 5/14/2023 from a 7 month battle with brain cancer, better known as a Glioblastoma. Jan was born in Boise, Idaho to John and Margaret Marker and one of 5 children, two brothers John and Steve, plus two sisters Ledina and Dixie. The family moved to Chubbuck (just North of Pocatello) in time for her to go to school at the Ft. Hall Indian School and then graduating from Pocatello (Pokey) High School in 1963. During High School she worked at the Red Steer Drive in serving the customers on Roller Skates. After graduation she went to Seeley Lake, Montana for a while and then eventually moved to Chicago, Illinois where she worked for Shriner’s Crippled Children’s Hospitals in there main office downtown on Michigan Avenue. Next she moved to Denver where she met John Haines at a Dale Carnegie Sales Training Class in Feb. of 1977. They started dating shortly after that.
She stayed in Denver and worked for a legal firm Gorsuch, Kirgis, Walker, and Grover as a legal secretary while John had moved to Salida to be a partner in a Chevrolet, Oldsmobile dealership, and she would come visit on the weekends.
In Sept. of 1981 she got fed up with this dating/commuting situation and told John she loved him a lot and if he didn’t want to get married that was OK, and she would look for another fish. It didn’t take John long to make up his mind. John called Mac Witty the local Judge and Mac said come see me, he said you have and John said we have and Mac then said well you are. “Get out of here and take good care of her! She’s a gem.”
Jan then moved to Salida and decided she wanted to finish her education. She had about a semesters worth of credit from previous schools. She enrolled at Adams State College in the Psychology Program and drove back and forth to Alamosa three days a week putting 180 miles a day on her car. In side of 4 years she had earned a Bachelors and two Masters degrees, plus graduating Sigma Cum Laud. Her Master Degrees were in Child Guidance and Counseling and Geriatric Guidance and Counseling.
She worked for West Central Mental Health in Salida for a few years and then started the Chaffee County Big Brothers -Big Sisters program in Buena Vista.
Next, John had the opportunity to move to Glenwood Springs and buy the Chevrolet/Subaru dealerships from Roger Fischer. Jan came along and started working for Colorado West Mental Health in 1988. Next she became the Carbondale Middle School Counselor until about 1997 until the school had budget cuts and didn’t feel a full time Counselor was needed.
After the school system, Jan thought she would use her Minor in Business and buy Dragons Boot and Shoe in the West Glenwood Mall which she ran until 2006.
Next on her list of thing to do was to go to the University of Wisconsin and learn to be a Caring Clown which she did in 2007 and spent the next 6 years volunteering as Cookie the Clown for Pediatric Partners in Glenwood Springs.
After retiring from Cookie the Clown, Jan and John spent time skiing and traveling to Australia a half a dozen times to see friends they have there, and also to Europe for some bike and barge trips.
In October of 2022, she was having some funny headaches and moments of memory loss and had it checked. That’s when she found the Glioblastoma creating downhill slide. Jan’s strength, courage, determination, and continuous smile will forever be remembers. In lieu of flowers, donations to Valley View Foundation will be greatly appreciate. A celebration of life will be planned for later in the year.