Jan was born in Clarkston, MI and graduated from Clarkston High School. She has taken several junior college classes (no degree) in clerical/computers, to assist her advancement in the workplace, which was twenty-three years as principal's secretary and bookkeeper for Carman-Ainsworth Schools in Flint Township. During her time there, she served eighteen years as president of their support staff local, Michigan Educational Support Personnel, covering secretaries, clerks, classroom aides, custodians and mechanics. She received extensive experience in bargaining contracts and settling grievances.

Jan has been married for fifty-three years and has two sons, four grandchildren and one great-grandchild. She made her home in Grand Blanc most of her pre-retirement years.

Jan bought her home in St. Helen in 1986 but made it her permanent residence in 1996, when she retired. Some of her activities since moving here include spending ten years on the township planning commission (during the time of developing the townships's twenty-year plan, she volunteered for the township police department five years, served on the Roscommon County Commission on Aging for three years, and was president of the Seniors of St. Helen for three years. Presently, she is president of the St. Helen Chamber of Commerce, a trustee on the Richfield Township Park board, secretary of the St. Helen Lake Association and secretary/treasurer of the Carter Woods Property Owners Association.