Janet Supon Kingsbury

Following a short but courageous battle with cancer, Janet (Jan) Supon Kingsbury passed away Friday, April 17, 2020 at home in Albuquerque, NM, surrounded by members of her family.

Jan was born during December 1943 in Kimball, NE to parents, Frank and Lucyellen Supon. She was raised in Pine Bluffs, WY, and graduated from Pine Bluffs High School as valedictorian of the class of 1962. She enrolled at the University of Wyoming where she met the love of her life, Robert (Bob) Kingsbury, whom she married in August of 1965.

She graduated from the University of Wyoming with a B.S. in Home Economics in 1966, and then taught home economics and English at Tempe High School while Bob attended graduate school at Arizona State University. Bob and Jan lived in Los Alamos, NM from 1967-1971 and 1973-1986 where Jan taught junior high school Home Economics and served as a long-term substitute teacher at Los Alamos middle and high schools. The family moved to Albuquerque, NM in 1986 where Jan became a travel agent and worked in several agencies over a 20-year career.

Jan was always very active in her community and her church. She served on the vestry, was Senior Warden of St. Chad’s Episcopal Church for three years, and she continued to serve on St. Chad’s Altar Guild until her passing. She was Treasurer and former President of Chapter AA of the P.E.O. Sisterhood.  Jan was also a strong supporter over the years of the American Association of University Women.

Jan’s favorite activity was spending time with her husband, brother, sister, children, grandchildren, many friends, and her Boston Terriers. Additionally, she enjoyed gardening, cooking, dining at fine restaurants, her book club, and traveling with Bob to new and long-time favorite places, such as the family ranch in Wyoming, her brother’s home in Kauai, and the California wine country.

Jan is survived by her husband of 54 years, Bob Kingsbury of Albuquerque; son, Brian (Linda) Kingsbury of Cortlandt Manor, NY; daughter, Karla Kingsbury (Adrian Romero) of New York City; and daughter, Karen (Ryan) Hultgren of Tacoma, WA; three grandchildren, Nathaniel and Antra-Blake Kingsbury, and Stella Hultgren; brother, Frank Supon of Austin, TX; and sister, Judy (Dennis) Kieler of Lyman, NE. She was preceded in death by her parents.

Cremation has taken place, and a memorial service for Jan will be held at a later date when we are able to gather with her many friends and family for a celebration of her life.  In the meantime, her friends and family members will recognize her in the following tribute, lovingly authored by her son-in-law, Adrian Romero:

When one thinks of Jan, one thinks of a person who never missed a birthday, a holiday, or an opportunity to catch up. She was always delighted by the possibility of a phone call or visit with family and with her many dear friends, and she loved to find cards that matched the personality or sense of humor of whomever she was sending it to.

She never lost contact with anyone whom she had affection for, and was very consistent in her expressions of devotion and thoughtfulness year round. Jan grew up in rural Wyoming. Its atmosphere, its landscape, its customs, and the people she grew up loving were never far from her heart. But she also loved to travel, whether it was to spend time with her children and their families, or in later years, to visit new places and have new adventures with the love of her life, her college sweetheart, and husband of 54 years, Bob. They never stopped enjoying each other’s company, and they thrived on building each other up. And if she wasn’t talking to Bob, you could be sure that she was on the phone with her little sister, Judy. They were thick as thieves, Judy and Jan.

But no-one who knew Jan felt deprived of her affection. She had the capacity to love everyone in a way that felt equal. It was her way. Her beloved brother, her cousins, her brother-in-law and sister-in-law, her children, their spouses, her grandchildren, all her friends, everyone somehow got all she had, and it was a lot.

Jan loved to cook and was adventurous in her pursuit of different kinds of dishes from places around the world. She took great pains to learn old baking secrets from relatives, documenting every little detail, and she was also an expert in canning fruits, vegetables, and jams, the ingredients of which often came from the garden that she and Bob raised in their back yard. Their tomatoes were legendary. Many people benefitted from Jan’s culinary gifts and green thumb. She enjoyed cooking for guests, and she loved to pack fresh tomatoes, canned jams, and preserves in a suitcase when she traveled to share when she arrived.

As I sit here, Bob reminds me that when she was in high school, “Jan was a contestant in the Betty Crocker Cherry Pie Baking Contest for high school home economics' students. She won the Wyoming state competition, and according to Karla, she finished 10th in the national contest which was held in Chicago. It was the first time she’d been on a train.” They still have the apron.

As a mother, Jan was always 100%. A perfect example…when her daughters danced in a junior ballet company, Jan would design and sew costumes for the entire company before a performance. It pleased her to put in that extra bit.

She loved science when she was a school kid, she adored nature, and she also supported a great many charities and social causes. A visit to her home would always reveal publications that kept her up-to-date on the issues she cared the most about: human rights, feeding the hungry, preservation of the environment, and caring for the homeless. I myself discovered many sources to help me be better aware of how people were being treated because of my mother-in-law’s interests. Jan cared deeply about people and the well being of others. She was also a proud feminist, and would go door to door in the 70's with her daughter along, advocating for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment for women.  Another magazine always to be found at home was National Geographic with its beautiful photographs. Jan loved gardening and animals. Perhaps no animal got more love from Jan than dogs, in particular the breed she had grown up with, the Boston Terrier. Jan’s parents had them, and that was where the seed was sown. Bob and Jan had innumerable Bostons, and they have been as much a part of the family lore as the humans. Her sister, her children, all Boston Terrier fans, and Jan always included a Boston Terrier calendar in the Christmas gifts every year, (though she always signed that gift as being from the dogs.)

Jan, along with Bob, were big fans of old school country music, and they would travel as far as Cheyenne, Wyoming from Albuquerque (for the Cheyenne Frontier Days) with the kids if there was a good show they wanted to catch. She was happy when the likes of Charley Pride, Dolly Parton, George Jones, Ray Price, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Vince Gill, Randy Travis, Johnny Cash and Reba McEntire performed in or near Albuquerque. There was also another kind of musical event that delighted her. For a long while, Bob attended an annual work-related conference in New York City. Jan would accompany him on these trips in order to see her kids, and while she was there, she never lost an opportunity to attend a Broadway musical. Old fashioned shows, new shows, drama, comedy, song catalog, she loved them all. Knowing her love of music well, Karla and I would entertain her every birthday by performing a brand-new tune over the phone. Karla would update me on any news in Jan’s life that could be incorporated into a song lyric, and I’d write a tune before the phone call, which we’d rehearse once and dial. Cracking up Jan on the phone is something I loved doing, whether with a song or some racy remark I managed to sneak into a conversation.

I’m gonna end with that thought. Jan laughing on the phone. It has been the lingering snapshot in my head. In the silence that follows, I will go forward knowing that I’m going to see her everywhere; in the Easter card sitting on the coffee table, in the Valentine’s Day card nearby, in my wife’s face, Jan’s handwriting on a jar in the refrigerator, on the spines of records she bought me, scattered lyric sheets from birthday songs, and in the Boston Terrier calendar in the kitchen that it will still be my job to change late into the night when I can’t sleep on the eve of the first of every month for the remainder of this year. They will be bittersweet moments, and I will smile to myself, and thank Jan for every last one of them.

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Memorial contributions can be sent to St. Chad’s Episcopal Church; 7171 Tennyson Street NE, Albuquerque, NM 87122, or to P.E.O Foundation, c/o Jane Moses; PO Box 2836, Corrales, NM 87048.