Farewell, Jane

I was shocked, dismayed, and saddened to learn today that a good friend in Berkeley passed away. Jane Edwards was one of the nicest and sincerest people I'd ever met. She was ever pleasant, genuinely interested in people, and walked her own path according to her own passions. She was an assistant sysadmin at my old lab as well as a researcher while supporting her own interests. She had two PhDs, was an avid hiker, and an expert pianist. But I'll just remember her as being a good friend that I enjoyed talking to and having a beer with. I hadn't had correspondence with her since July and I feel the loss knowing that we'll never communicate again or that I won't be able to peek into her office to say hi or to leave a note, as I always do when I visit Berkeley.

I was also dismayed that I learn of this a month late. I received the announcement through my old Berkeley email address, which I've had for more than a decade and sadly became a repository of spam before spam even had a name. Hence, I only check that account once a month or so to clear it out and look for anything legitimate (which is easy to miss). I had resisted closing the account due to the spam because I eventually do get academic-related items through there. I'm glad I had resisted since it would have been even longer before my finding out. I was in a kind of disbelief when I saw the announcement. I just wish I had checked the account more frequently as I feel sorry to have missed the service. A nice post is still up at the Glacier Mountaineering Society as well as a blog by one of her climbing colleagues.

Farewell, Jane.