Jan Kreager Kardatzke (Kondrath)

Jan Kreager Kardatzke (Kondrath)

June 13, 1949 – March 30, 2021

Jan passed away after a 5 plus year battle with cancer surrounded by family on Tuesday, March 30, 2021. She was born in Zanesville, Ohio on June 13, 1949 to Trudy Kondrath and the late John Kondrath. Jan was also preceded in death by her husband of 47 years, Tim Kardatzke. She is survived by her mother Trudy, daughter Jennifer Conroy, son-in-law Tom, and granddaughters Kallie Storm and Molly Ray.

Jan grew up in Harbor Hills, Ohio on Buckeye Lake where she learned to play golf from her parents in the summer and ice skated in the winter. She graduated from Lakewood High School where she was in the Marching band as a majorette and played the French horn. Jan and Tim both graduated from Bowling Green State University with education degrees in 1971 and were married in Prout Chapel on campus on June 26 of the same year. During the next twelve years in Toledo, Jan taught school and refereed volleyball. She was a member of Maumee Order of the Eastern Star #197.

In 1983 Jan, Tim, and Jennifer packed up a U-Haul and moved to Broomfield, Colorado permanently to begin new adventures. Jan taught at Emerald Elementary for 26 years, which included teaching her granddaughters. She was named Teacher of the Year in 2005. Jan also helped coach tennis at Broomfield High and was a Girl Scout Leader. In her retirement, besides going to all of her granddaughter’s events and sports, she was involved in Broomfield FISH, Broomfield Library, Broomfield Bird Club, Book Club, Eagle Trace Ladies Golf, BSTC Tennis, Denver Botanic Gardens Volunteer, Eagle observation volunteer, and there are probably more.

Jan loved spending time outdoors. She, Tim, and Jennifer would spend summer vacations camping and visiting National Parks. Later she and Tim took Kallie and Molly on many adventures, sometimes Jen and Tom got to come along. From camping in Rocky Mountain National Park and hiking anywhere there was a path in Colorado, to visiting other states natural wonders. Jan and Tim traveled from Alaska to Florida, and cruised to Hawaii and the Caribbean. Of course, some of those trips were for birding. We can honor Jan by living life to the fullest as she did.

Jan’s legacy is the thousands of lives she touched and nurtured through her years of teaching, coaching, and volunteering. Her love for the birds was amazing and she tried to learn everything she could about them so she could pass that knowledge on to anyone who would listen. So in lieu of flowers please consider donating to Broomfield FISH or Bird Conservancy of the Rockies.

Hoskinson Funeral & Cremation Service in Kirkersville is honored to care for Jan and her family.