TOPSHAM — Jan Swinchatt, beloved wife of Peter and mother of Tom, Karen and Jeff, passed on Friday, April 10, 2015. She died at Mass General Hospital of a severe case of Interstitial Lung Disease.

Jan was born in Lewiston, Maine, on June 30, 1933, to parents Margaret and Frank Bean. She grew up at The Cape in Otisfield, Maine, going to local schools until high school when she went to and graduated from Gould Academy. She then got a degree in design from Traphagen School of Design. She worked for short periods for a photographer and then an advertising agency.

Jan married Peter in 1955 shortly after he graduated from college. The partnership of mutual best friends lasted almost 60 years.

Jan kept Peter company through the years of his career living various amounts of time in McAllen, San Angelo, San Antonio, Texas; Belleview, Nebraska; Farmington, New Mexico; Denver, Colorado and Conroe, Texas, before going overseas for the last 10 years of her husband’s career. Those years were spent in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tunis, Tunisia and Rio de Janiero, Brazil. On Peter’s retirement, she settled with him at her house on Lake Pennesseewassee in Norway, Maine. In 2004, she and Peter built a house in Topsham, Maine, at Highland Green; a house in a neighborhood both of which she truly loved.

Jan leaves behind her husband and best friend Peter and son Tom of Montgomery, Texas, daughter Karen of Peachtree City, Georgia and son Jeff of Senoia, Georgia. She had eight grandchildren: Jennifer, Melissa and Allison Swinchatt, Ryan, Ross and Renee Roark and Steve and Sam Swinchatt. She often expressed her love for all her children and grandchildren.

Jan’s wishes were that her remains be cremated, that there be no services and that she be interred at a cemetery on a hillside in Norway, Maine, with her family and a few friends present.

She would have wanted her family to make a comment about the extremely high quality of care she received at Mid Coast Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital ICUs. Dr. McCormick and the nurses in the ICU at Mid Coast did their best for her. Dr. Richard Channick, director of Pulmonary Hypertension and the Intern/Resident team and the ICU nurses went beyond what her family members present might have expected. We thank all of them for the care given especially, Amy, Kelly, Susan, Mike, Shenley, Jason and Ryan.

Memorial donations may be made to the Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program, 84A Union St., Brunswick, ME 04011. Arrangements are by Stetson’s Funeral Home 12 Federal St., Brunswick, where memorial condolences may be expressed at stetsonsfuneralhome.com.