Jane Kos

July 20, 1934 – April 22, 2026 (Earth Day)

Jane Kos, who lived an independent and uniquely adventurous life, passed peacefully on Earth Day 2026, with her son by her side. Born on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Jane channeled early rebellion against her mother's mantra of, "Children should be seen and not heard" into a lifetime of embracing the world on her own terms.

Jane earned her undergraduate degree from Vassar College and her graduate degree from Columbia University before dedicating her career to teaching, primarily as an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher in Salt Lake City and the Bay Area.

Her passion for languages, cultures, and travel began early. While at Vassar, Jane spent a summer in Puebla, Mexico, teaching English to local children. She was hosted by the Velázquez family, with whom she remained lifelong friends, especially with her “hermanas” Teros and Mina.

On her first day of teaching in New York City, she befriended Helen, a teacher in the next classroom--a friendship that lasted a lifetime. Jane also maintained close bonds with Salt Lake City colleagues Susan and Sandy long after moving west.

Jane eagerly pursued—and then married—John, a Yugoslav. This began what she often referred to as her "15 addresses in 15 years" era. Addresses included Norfolk, VA; San Diego, CA; Portland, OR; Salt Lake City, UT; Pula, Yugoslavia; Ratingen, West Germany; Skien, Norway; and back to SLC, with many short-term stays in between.

During this time, Jane gave birth to near Irish twins, Alex and Adrienne. While living in Europe, Jane homeschooled her children in English while they learned Croatian (Hrvatski), German (Deutsch), and Norwegian (Norsk) in public schools.

Her “15 in 15” period fueled Jane’s insatiable love for languages. Already fluent in English, Spanish, Italian, and French, she became fluent in Croatian, Labinjanski (the Yugoslav dialect of her husband’s hometown), German, and Norwegian. While in Germany, she learned Persian to better communicate with her neighbor and later in life mastered Japanese.

Jane’s language prowess helps personify her character. Before meeting her husband's Yugoslav family in the early ’60s, she bought a "Learn to Speak Croatian" record set--only to discover that many of her new family members strictly spoke Labinjanski. Undaunted, she sought out Croatian and Italian speakers, studied the structure of this “new” language, and by her second visit spoke like the locals.

She audaciously corrected Croatian family members who spoke colloquial Croatian, including her patriarchal brother-in-law, who admired and appreciated her boldness. To this day, Jane is still revered by her Croatian family.

More recently, her children learned that after Jane met her nephew’s Mongolian mother-in-law, she sent her a follow-up letter written entirely in Mongolian. Remarkably, she did this with zero prior knowledge of the language--long before the era of Google Translate.

At her final residence, she seamlessly switched between German and French with her neighbors. We are certain that, had she lived longer, she would have been helping her in-home care personnel improve their Tagalog.

Her divorce in the early 80s was difficult, but once the fog lifted and her children graduated high school, Jane packed up and moved to Menlo Park, CA, where she lived for 30+ years. Aside from teaching, she joined the Sierra Club, built trails, abated weeds, wrote poetry, ushered at local theatres, participated in multiple language groups, and volunteered at many local community and non-profit organizations. Jane was well known among her friends and family for her hiking. She was still easily completing 25+ mile hikes into her early 80s.

Jane used California as a launching pad to continue her lifelong wanderlust. Egypt, Patagonia, Machu Picchu, Southeast Asia, and Japan are just some of the many unique places she visited. Her last trips were to Greece in ’22 and Mexico with her grandson in ’25.

The number of passport stamps Jane accumulated pales in comparison to the quantity of foreign postage stamps she amassed. Jane easily made friends wherever she lived and with fellow travelers with whom she crossed paths. Many times, these friends would become life-long pen pals.

In the 90s, she embraced the affectionate title "Grandma Jane" given to her by her three grandchildren Lexi, Nick, and Zach. She quickly learned that her grandkids wanted a playmate, not a teacher, and cultivated a loving relationship with each of them.

In her final years, Jane moved to Sacramento to be closer to her children. At her final residence, she was loved and doted on, which she so richly deserved.

Jane was cremated per her wishes. Her ashes will be scattered by her children in places she held dear.

Survived by: Her son Alex and wife Carrie; daughter Adrienne and partner Leo; grandchildren Lexi, Nick, and Zach; former daughter-in-law Missy; nieces and nephews Lori, Jeff, and Michael; their spouses and children; sister-in-law Shiva; Croatian sisters-in-law Rina and Marica and Marica's sons.

Preceded in death by: Parents (Harry and Edith Kohn); brother Joseph Kohn; former husband John Kos; brother Stephen Kohn and her sister-in-law Susan Kohn.

In lieu of flowers or gifts: Knowing Jane, she would have responded with her trademarked and sarcastic, "Oh, please." Instead, we know Jane would have loved if, in her honor and memory, you: go on a hike, build a trail, pull some weeds, volunteer, learn a new language, read, turn off the boob tube (unless Jeopardy is on), travel, appreciate different cultures and people, root for the underdog, write poetry, mail (not email) a letter, send a postcard, journal, study abroad, listen to NPR, or watch and support PBS.

Your family and friends will miss you deeply, Jane, but you will never be forgotten. We love you.