Jane E. Kosterlitzky

I met Jane as a young girl. Our parents were fast friends for years. We took 2 family vacations together. I was a student at the local Catholic school; she was enrolled in the public school. In my 7th grade year, when I changed schools, Jane was there to welcome me. We were in many of the same extra-curricular activities and even attended the same college after graduation (the University of Iowa), although I never played the bagpipes or the baritone sax, as Jane did.  John and Mary (Jane's parents) also really liked my older sister Kay.  My funny story of Camp Wapsi “Y” in one of 30 books I've written made an impression on Jane, which she mentioned to me on the phone  one year before her death on Feb. 28, 2014. That was the last time I ever spoke with Jane Siesseger Kosterlitzky, roughly one year before she died. Jane was the only girl in our class with a birthday even later in the year than mine. I hope bagpipes greeted you, Jane, blaring a  welcome as warm as mine when I entered 7th grade at Jefferson High School in Independence, Iowa in 1957.