Obituary

Jan Bova was a go-getter - and a "go-giver." Innately adventurous, she loved to inspire others to join in the fun and turned her many passions into a lifetime of volunteer service.

Jan didn't just take up skiing - she got her whole family involved, started a ski club at her daughter's school in Poland, Ohio, and moved to Colorado. She didn't merely help at a local children's theater - she designed and sewed countless costumes and pitched in on set building and painting. And she didn't just save a couple of baby birds, squirrels, raccoons and even a fox or two - she became a lifelong volunteer for the fledgling Greenwood Wildlife Rehabilitation Center and a licensed rehabber.

Janice Barbara Bova died Oct. 3, 2023 in Arvada. She was 86.

Jan was born Oct. 28, 1936 in New Castle, Pennsylvania, to Charles A. and Helen F. (Lenning) Brickner. Jan grew up in Eastbrook, Pennsylvania. She graduated from New Castle High School in 1954.

During her senior year, she met Louis Francis Bova, who was on leave from the U.S. Navy, at a football game. They carried on a long-distance relationship until marrying on June 16, 1955, in New Castle. The couple had one daughter, Lisa.

A talented seamstress, Jan began designing and sewing costumes for the Youngstown Playhouse Children's Theater in Ohio and helping with set design and construction. After her first time skiing, she enthusiastically recruited her whole family into the sport. Breckenridge became a kind of second home and in 1983, they moved to Breckenridge, and then moved to Niwot in 1984.

Always an animal lover, Jan welcomed stray dogs into the family and rescued, raised and released orphaned birds. She was one of the earliest volunteers for Greenwood, then housed in a tiny room at the Humane Society of Boulder Valley, and enthusiastically continued for the rest of her life, becoming a bird expert and earning her wildlife rehabilitation license. Greenwood was Jan's abiding passion, as anyone who met her soon discovered.

And she never lost her love for the mountains, continuing to ski, hike and explore the Rocky Mountains with her friends and family.

Jan is survived by her daughter Lisa Bova of Salida and Breckenridge, Colorado, and a sister, Joyce Stiffler of Houston, Texas.

She was preceded in death by her husband Louis in 2015, her parents, and two sisters, Jean Ayers and Joan Robison.

The family will hold an open house from 2-4 p.m. on Nov. 12, 2023 at the Left Hand Grange, 195 2nd Ave., Niwot, Colorado.

Memorial contributions may be made to Greenwood Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, greenwoodwildlife.org or P.O. Box 18987, Boulder CO, 80308.