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Letter to the editor

The never-ending stories told her life's tale

By STEPHANIE HAYES, Times Staff Writer
Published December 28, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT Jane Bartsch's life was filled with numerous stories. She died Dec. 20 after an apparent stroke at age 75. [Handout]

LARGO - Jane Bartsch was one story after another.

There was the time, after pondering why the Thanksgiving turkey was taking forever, she realized the oven was off for five hours.

The time she went to the grocery store with her friend Lacey Allen and stuck her whole head into her cavernous purse to search for coins. The checkout line erupted laughing.

The time she met John F. Kennedy while she was working in a Miami deli. She was a lifelong Republican, but she voted for him that year. He was a good tipper.

The times she unabashedly mingled with gay and black friends in the 1950s, when diversity wasn't celebrated.

The time she and Allen were thrown out of a "lowlife" bar for climbing on top of the piano, laying across it, and dancing.

The time they took a friend's mother, who was mistreated at home by her husband, to another "lowlife" bar. They danced with her and got her roaring drunk and happy.

The time, after three marriages that didn't work, she discovered the true love of her life - Jack Bartsch, a neighbor in her Miami apartment building.

The time she sent him a simple, pointed telegram after he moved away and stopped calling or writing: "Sorry you broke your hand."

The time she married him.

The times they hosted flocks of friends in their home, and Mr. Bartsch would play guitar and everyone would sing.

The times - every morning - when Mr. Bartsch served his wife breakfast in bed. Blueberry pancakes, eggs, toast. Anything she wanted.

The times her kids racked up $500 phone bills by talking to "Mama Jane" for hours.

The times she kept score and cheered on the pool sharks at Dublin House in Largo, where she and Mr. Bartsch hosted a weekly pool tournament.

The time she suffered a stroke and lost her sense of taste. And the time she rejoiced when it started to return.

The times she told her daughter, Carol Bartsch, how she was afraid to die slow, and wanted to go quickly when her time came.

The time this month when she visited her daughters in Orlando, went out to eat and raised a glass or two or three.

The time last week when she kept score at Dublin House the night before she died at age 75. It was possibly another stroke, her family said. It was fast.

The time Thursday night when family and friends celebrated Mrs. Bartsch's life, played All You Need Is Love by the Beatles, and shared her stories, one after the other.

Stephanie Hayes can be reached at shayes@sptimes.com or 727 893-8857.

BIOGRAPHY:

Jane Bartsch

Born: Oct. 26, 1932.

Died: Dec. 20, 2007.

Survivors: husband, Jack Bartsch; daughters, Valerie McGill, Diane Englund, Carol Bartsch, Elizabeth Bartsch; grandchildren Jean Englund, Lizan Englund, Chalice Bartsch, Jonathan Royer; great-granddaughter, Mia Ann Kreig.

[Last modified December 27, 2007, 21:41:19]