Janet R. Bischer, 75, passed away at her home in Middletown on January 2, 2024 after a long illness. The timing was not shocking, as Janet, a summer-loving Leo if ever there was one, loathed the month of January and the prospect of checking out before slogging through yet another 31 days of “The January Blahs” was probably too tempting to pass up.
Janet was raised in the Ridgewood section of Queens, N.Y., graduating from Grover Cleveland High School in 1966 and attending steno school before working as a secretary at Bankers Trust in lower Manhattan. It was a fateful career move: Not only did she make a tight-knit group of girlfriends there, she also met the love of her life and future husband, Bob.
To say that she loved Queens is an understatement, and, after moving to Middletown in 1976, the New Jersey suburbs kind of paled in comparison. But Janet made the most of it for 47 years, embracing Red Bank, whose Broad Street reminded her of her beloved Myrtle Avenue. She continued working as a secretary and her top-notch organizational skills and sharp eye for detail made her an asset in her career, from the Red Bank-based Thomas Beers Associates to a Garden State Parkway construction site trailer with Schoor DePalma, two jobs she adored.
Janet was an incredible artist who exceled in so many mediums, from drawing, to garden design, to sewing. Chances are, if you attended a Monmouth County craft show in the 1990s, you likely encountered Janet’s tables of lovingly handcrafted Halloween ghosts, Christmas mice, and Santa Clauses. When glaucoma prevented her from doing the intricate work of crafting in her 60s, she turned to fiction and memoir writing as a creative outlet (attending writing classes at Project Write Now were a highlight of her later years). Her backyard and front yard gardens were gorgeous displays of not only her artistic eye, but the loving care she put into them all through the hot summer months. She liked nothing more than a good cup of coffee, especially at her backyard bistro table in the spring and summer, PBS and BBC period pieces, true-crime mystery shows (even if she knew the husband almost always did it) and any R&B or Rolling Stones song with a good dancing groove. She loved those closest to her fiercely and she was also extremely generous—to family and friends, but especially when it came to tipping wait-staff at restaurants, because “She deserves it, she’s been on her feet all day.”
Janet is predeceased by her parents, Angelina and John Aversano. She is survived by her loving husband of 51 years, Bob; her beloved daughter, Karen; her cherished sisters Sadie Russo and Kathleen Moffettone. Eleven nieces and nephews (none of whom could ever do any wrong in her eyes, just to FYI), and seemingly countless cousins, whom she completely adored. She also leaves behind “grandpets” Clarence the cat, with whom she shared her morning cereal even if he wasn’t the nicest to her, and Brandy the dog, who could also never do any wrong, just to FYI.
Visitation will be held on Thursday, January 4th from 4-7 pm at Thompson Memorial Home, 310 Broad St, Red Bank, NJ 07701. A graveside service will be held on Friday, January 5th at 11 am at Fair View Cemetery, Middletown, NJ. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Janet’s memory to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, https://www.stjude.org/donate
