Janet T. Potts Janet Timmens Potts loved to read about Winston and Clementine Churchill; she loved to sing “Ava Maria” at mass and show tunes around the house; she loved to dote on her cats, dogs and Koi; and she loved to sit out back and talk about life with any of her four children.
Alzheimer’s would steal these pleasures and more from her, and ultimately the disease would also rob her of her life. The Batavia native died May 28 in Louisville, Ky. She was 82.
A graveside service will be held 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 13, at St. Joseph Cemetery. It was her wish to be “taken home” and buried beside the graves of her beloved parents, Thomas W. and Margaret Timmens, nee Bermingham.
She was born May 6, 1934, in Batavia and grew up in a quaint green and white house on treelined North Lyon Street. Janet liked to reminisce about gregarious evenings of songs and stories sung and told by uncles, aunts and cousins. Raised Catholic, Janet had a beautiful singing voice that would dominate every mass she attended. Often her father would try to rein her in with a tap and a “shush.” She also enjoyed playing the piano and singing Broadway hits as she puttered around the house or garden.
Janet was fiercely proud of her Irish heritage and a highlight of her life before the Alzheimer’s took hold was visiting Ireland with her beloved cousin, Barbara Lombardi. When Janet’s sister, Mary Beth Mahar, researched the family’s genealogy she had the dubious duty to report that the family may also have some German blood. Janet’s normally inviting and beautiful blue eyes turned steely upon hearing this, and she steadfastly refused to acknowledge her sister’s findings. Janet would be the first to say she had a blessed life. But her life also knew struggle, and one of the reasons she was so respected and loved was her resolve to overcome those struggles.
After graduating from Batavia High School, she moved to New York City to work and perhaps find fame with that voice. When asked, she never really could explain why she went, other than youthful wanderlust. She soon moved back to Batavia, though, and met Richard J. Ross. In 1954 they married and settled in a duplex on Main Street. All four of their children were born at St. Jerome Hospital. Job transfers, however, would move the family to Frewsburg, N.Y., Johnstown, Pa., Buffalo, and finally to Louisville. All the while, though, Janet and her family would regularly return to Batavia to visit with family and vacation at Godfrey’s Pond and Horseshoe Lake. While living in Louisville, her marriage ended in divorce. She considered moving back to Batavia, close to family and friends, but decided it was best for she and her children to stay put. She went back to school, studying into all hours of the night, only to learn upon graduation that the school was not accredited. This nearly broker her, but she found work at Duncan Wallcovering, which offered her stability and a new cadre of friends.
It was her role as a mother, however, that she found most fulfilling. She was fiercely protective of her brood. She had a “mama bear” side to her, and when her children hurt, she felt it to her core. Usually a card would show up in the mail, full of wisdom, advice and prayer. Her favorite word was “moxie,” and she used it when she wanted to instill in her children the drive necessary to overcome life’s struggles.
She was immensely proud of her children, who all went on to school and made careers and started families of their own. Janet had remained single all these years, but in 1995 she married Joe Potts, coowner of Minish & Potts Florists and they settled in the house where she raised her children.
The symptoms of Alzheimer’s started with little compulsions, such as continually rifling through her purse or folding the same clothes over and over. She would see figures — often her father — in the clouds. Eventually, she no longer recognized her children. Faced with health and safety concerns, her children made the heartbreaking decision to place her in an Alzheimer’s unit so she could receive proper care. She lived there for three years, the Alzheimer’s completely stealing her mind, beauty and memories. In late May she caught pneumonia, and while in hospice peacefully died. Her family was able to gather by her.
In addition to her husband, survivors include her children: Juli Starowitz of Louisville; Stephen Ross of La Grange, Ky.; Thomas Ross of Danbury, Conn., and Lori Palmer of Knoxville, Tenn.; a sister, Mary Beth Mahar of Chichester, N.H.; eight grandchildren; several greatgrandchildren; a niece and nephew; and several cousins.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, P.O. Box 96011, Washington, DC 200906011, or visit www.alz.org.
