E-News29-14

If you need a trusted resource on the history of OLLI, Jan DeWire is it. Eighty-seven years young, Jan can still recount names, dates, and even minor details about the founding of OLLI. Jan is the fourth person to be profiled in this series on OLLI founding members.
 
The Learning in Retirement concept was championed by Lilyan Spero, Shirley Fox and Ellis Wood, who all served on the Fairfax Council on Aging and worked with Kathryn Brooks to develop an advanced educational program for retirees, Jan recalls. Lilyan’s husband Abe Spero served on George Mason University’s Board of Visitors and convinced Mason to donate the space at Tallwood to the nascent Learning in Retirement Institute (LRI). Parking was limited, however, so OLLI negotiated “top dollar” for spots at the Fairfax Pool, she reports.
 
Jan joined the LRI in 1992 after receiving a “wonderful letter of introduction” from Judith Lieberman, the first membership chair. Little did she know she would soon be thrown into many leadership positions, including: curriculum chair (program chair), president of the Board from 1996-98, vice president of the Board, special events coordinator, and member of the Board.
 
During these years, LRI membership boomed due to effective public relations (particularly the placement of news articles in local papers and The Washington Post) as well as program development by Kathryn Russell. Jan led a Board planning committee to address the growing concerns about space and oversaw the acquisition of trailers for TA-2 and TA-3.
 
In 1998, the Board agreed to open a campus in Reston after Norma Wade and Lydia McDonald found a church to host classes. When Mason asked the Board also to expand into Loudoun, they reluctantly complied, fearing they had bitten off more than they could chew with the new site in Reston. The Board declined suggestions to expand into Arlington and Manassas, largely because of space limitations.
 
Though Jan has hung up her Board duties, she remains an active OLLI member, co-chairing the literary roundtable in Reston, one of the longest-running OLLI courses. She still takes classes, preferring more “unusual” topics such as Chinese literature and films about the war. She proclaims she is “thrilled to be learning into the advanced age of 87” and is immensely proud of the way OLLI has developed over the years.
 
Jan was born and raised in New York, receiving a MA in education from Syracuse University. She taught second grade for several years, but put her career on hold to raise her three children. Jan claims she “wasn’t very good at teaching” because she had trouble managing kids with discipline issues, so she decided to run day care centers when she re-entered the workforce later in life. Married for 52 years, Jan and husband George traveled significantly in retirement before George became ill. She continues to enjoy her five grandchildren and two great grandkids, and hopes this spring to visit her son who is working in Japan. 

Back to Top of Page