Life-long educator and devotee of family
Dr. Jane O’Brien Friederichs passed away on December 21, 2016 at home in Boston, Massachusetts surrounded by her three children. She was 73 years old. Born and raised in Boston, she returned to the city after living abroad after almost thirty years in Hong Kong, Frankfurt, Germany and London, UK. She was a lifelong educator, with a passion for diverse views, cultures and peoples. Jane was also devoted to her children, creating a warm home and cultivating a supportive community for them in each of the countries they lived.
After receiving her undergraduate degree from Framingham State University in 1964, she taught for a year in Stoughton. She then moved to Austin, Texas where she earned her Masters in Education at the University of Texas. She spent several years in Austin, engaged in the civil rights movement and teaching. Following three years in New York, Jane moved to Hong Kong in 1975 with her family. She taught for five years at Chinese University of Hong Kong, and it was here that her career in education and the support of life-learning in all of her students truly became ingrained in her life. While there, she also took in part in the historic opening of US-China relations by participating in one of the first American educational trips to mainland China, leading groups of American university students through the country. Hong Kong remained an important place for her throughout her life. She maintained close contact with several of her students, and she researched Hong Kong’s education system, as part of her PhD which she earned at the University of London..
In 1981 she moved with her family to Frankfurt, Germany. Although she had loved her time in Asia, she embraced all that Europe had to offer, including learning how to ski at the age of 40, and teaching soldiers and their families at U.S. military basesas part of the University of Maryland Europe Division’s undergraduate program. In 1985, she and her family moved to London, UK where they lived for 16 years. Upon completing her PhD, she became a member of the faculty at Richmond American International College in Richmond, UK. It was at Richmond that her career in higher education administration began, and she served as Dean of Richmond’s School of Arts and Sciences for three years. Upon returning to the United States in 2001, she held positions of academic dean at Mitchell College in New London, CT, Massachusetts Bay Community College in Wellesley, Manhattanville College, in Purchase, NY and Worcester State University. Throughout her 50-year career, she was respected as a thoughtful educator who cared about her students, an energetic and positive colleague and a leader committed to the access and quality of education.
Living and working abroad provided Jane with opportunities to travel, which she took at every chance, and she continued her passion for international travel following her return to the United States. Within the last decade, she travelled to Tibet (she was proud of making it to Mount Everest’s base camp),to Myanmar, where she enjoyed a ballon ride over its golden temples, and to Dromoland Castle, Ireland, to celebrate her brother John’s birthday. She also enjoyed leading or participating in student trips, recently traveling to Taiwan and Venice, Italy. Her children (and later grandchildren), also benefited from her curiosity of the world’s diversity and her love of travel, and the family enjoyed many adventures together.
Jane enjoyed her professional life, but her family, including her three children and five grandchildren, was her greatest love and passion. She took every opportunity to instill in her children respect and appreciation for the world’s diverse cultures, histories, and religions, as well as the importance and value of education. She supported her children in every way possible, and with the arrival of grandchildren, she extended that love and support, spending time with family at her home in Connecticut over holidays and summers, as well as at her children’s homes in Minnesota and California. Her love and support, her competitive spirit and her extensive knowledge of the world will be dearly missed. She is survived by her three children, Nicole, Martin and Laura, five grandchildren and two brothers, John and Donald.
A memorial service will be held on Sunday, February 19, 2016 from 1:30-4pm at the Boston Public Library's McKim Building which is located in Copley Square in downtown Boston.
A reception will follow the service. Once entering the Library from Dartmouth Street on Copley Square, head towards to the Map Room on the first floor. All are welcome and please RSVP to Laura Friederichs at [email protected] by Feb. 1.
Some of you have also asked about making donations in Jane's name. Here are some of the organizations she supported:
Amnesty International
http://www.amnestyusa.org/donate-to-amnesty
International Committee of the Red Cross
https://www.icrc.org/en/donate