Town mourns Jane Hollander, celebrates her life of giving

Memories of a loved and respected woman within the community.

By: Melissa Hayes
   Jane C. Hollander was the kind of person who was always helping others. She loved her family, her job and was an active member of St. Augustine of Canterbury R.C. Church.
   "Jane truly cared about each and every person that she helped," said LouAnne Wolf, social services director for the township.
   Ms. Hollander lost her 15-month battle with cancer April 6 at her home in Kendall Park. She was 53.
   Ms. Hollander began working for the township as a Recreation Department secretary in 1989 and had been working with the elderly and low-income population in the township since 1998.
   "I think it was July of ’98 that she came over to the Senior Center as my secretary," Ms. Wolf said. "To me she was my assistant. She handled the office when I wasn’t in. She was truly a loyal and trusted employee and a good friend. She will be missed."
   Michael Hollander remembers how hard his wife fought to survive.
   "My wife, she was a pretty amazing woman and she really faced her disease with a tremendous spirit and inspired a lot of people. A lot of people told me that," Mr. Hollander said.
   Ms. Hollander was diagnosed with simple cell lung cancer in November 2003 and was told she had six to nine months to live.
   "She amazed her doctors. They even told me we got a miracle. That she lived longer than any of them expected," Mr. Hollander said.
   He said she relapsed several times as the cancer spread through her body, but she always fought back. When she died, the cancer had spread from her lungs to her liver, lymph nodes, bones and brain.
   "She always had a smile on her face. She never complained about her battle with cancer. She always had a positive outlook. She always told people she was going to beat it, that she was going to fight it and she had every reason in the world to," he said. "She desperately wanted to live."
   Ms. Hollander’s co-workers remember her as a caring individual who loved her job, never gave up a fight and could always make others smile.
   "She was a really wonderful person who could make you laugh at the drop of a hat," said Recreation Department Director Tom Morris, who worked with Ms. Hollander since 1992.
   "She was just a lot of fun, (had) a great sense of humor and (was) a hard worker and greatly committed to what she did here," he said. "I had a real pleasure in working with her. It was a real privilege."
   Maria Brown worked with Ms. Hollander through the Senior Center for 16 years.
   "She enjoyed her work. She enjoyed working with the seniors and with the low-income population. She enjoyed doing the holiday program and when it came time for the holidays, she really enjoyed getting together and making the matches for the holiday baskets and she enjoyed delivering the gift certificates to the different senior citizen developments," Ms. Brown said.
   Ms. Brown also remembers sharing many joyous moments with Ms. Hollander.
   "My most memorable day at work with her would have been when she found out she was pregnant with Michelle. She was just so over the top excited and overwhelmed," Ms. Brown said.
   "Just watching her be pregnant and just living through that whole thing was such a joy," she said.
   In addition to having a daughter, Ms. Hollander also had two sons.
   "She was very excited when her son was about to marry. That was great news to her," Ms. Brown said. "He got married in September and she was diagnosed in November so that was truly a shock."
   Art Roedel knew Ms. Hollander through her work in the community.
   "It’s what you don’t remember about people, that’s really the most profound," he said. "I never remember having a bad thing to say about anybody."
   Ms. Hollander is also remembered for her strength and fighting spirit.
   "She was so brave and put up one of the most courageous fights. She was determined till the end that she was going to live and she was going to do what she needed to do," Ms. Wolf said.
   Mr. Morris said he often teased her about her stubbornness, but that Ms. Hollander never let anything get the best of her.
   Her husband remembers her sitting in the waiting room of the doctor’s office as she was getting sicker. He said she refused to let that get to her and would often talk to other cancer patients, trying to build up their moral.
   "I don’t know how she did it. She had more courage in this battle with the disease than I can even imagine. That’s what helped her survive," Mr. Hollander said.
   Mr. Hollander said his wife loved South Brunswick. She grew up in the township and they raised their family here. The two met in high school and had their first date at the Kendall Park Roller Rink. They would have celebrated their 34th wedding anniversary next week.
   Mr. Hollander said his wife was determined to stay active despite her illness. Even when the doctor told her she couldn’t work anymore she convinced him to let her go back part-time because it was good for her. Ms. Hollander worked up until the time she was too sick to continue.
   "She was just a special person. She touched a lot of lives," he said.
   He remembers her last day, which was spent with her family.
   Mr. Hollander took his wife for a chemotherapy treatment April 5 and the doctor told him that she could be admitted to the hospital or taken home and that if she didn’t show improvement in two days that the cancer was resistant to the therapy.
   "Twelve hours later she died," Mr. Hollander said. "We came home and she got to see all of her children and her close family and friends came to her. Her girlfriend from Nevada was on a plane when she passed away."
   He said that his wife wanted to see the sunset before she died but she was too weak to walk outside onto the deck, so he held her as if they were dancing.
   As he did so, he remembers her father asking if he could have the last dance, but he said he didn’t let go of his wife.
   "She was home where she belonged with her family and close friends," he said.
   Mr. Hollander said his wife waited until all of her friends and family had left and her son went upstairs until she died, in his arms.
   "I promised her that I would do whatever I can to raise our daughter," he said. ‘She has a lot of her mother in her."
   Mr. Hollander said his wife left him with three wonderful children and countless memories.
   Ms. Hollander is survived by her husband, her daughter, Michelle, 12; two older sons, Paul and Christopher and his wife, Deena; her parents, Bernard and Ona Cyzauskas Magalski of Kendall Park; and a brother, Raymond Magalski of Kendall Park.
   Her funeral was held Saturday at M.J. Murphy Funeral Home in Monmouth Junction and was followed by a Mass at St. Augustine of Canterbury R.C. Church. Burial was at Holy Cross Burial Park.
   So many people turned out for the funeral that part of Route 1 and Route 130 were closed by the Police Department to let the procession through.
   Ms. Hollander’s friends and family said that if she had seen the fuss made over her she would have been embarrassed.
   "She didn’t want any recognition, she just wanted to be there for other people. She loved working for the township. That was what she was here for," Mr. Hollander said.
   Memorial contributions may be made to the Michelle Hollander Scholarship Fund, c/o South Brunswick Department of Social Services, P.O. Box 190, Municipal Complex, Monmouth Junction, N.J. 08852.