Jane Baldwin

Jane is originally from Vermont. She lived on a small farm with her parents and four siblings. From an early age she learned how important it was to help others. Her father worked three jobs to provide for his family so that her mother could stay at home with the children. Jane’s maternal grandmother had breast cancer. At that time, you had to have a double mastectomy with no reconstruction.

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Jane now lives in Olmsted Falls with her Golden Retriever, Ivy. She has two adult children. Talyah lives in Akron and is engaged to be married. Nikolaus currently lives in Austin, Texas but will be relocating to Fort Myers, Florida. Jane’s mother, Marilyn lived with her for the past ten years, but moved into a nursing home last year due to declining dementia.

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When the children were young, she started two non-profits that helped families who had children with special needs. Jane has worked in the Catholic field for the past twenty years. She was a teacher at northeast Ohio parochial schools. She now works at Saint Ambrose Catholic Parish as the Stewardship and Front Office Coordinator but has also worked with Adult Faith Formation.

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Jane has a deep faith and feels blessed that she was able to deepen her relationship with God. She heard that terrible “C” word in the summer of 2019. She was diagnosed with Triple Negative Breast Cancer. Even though the cancer was stage 1, Triple Negative BC is one of the most aggressive types with a high reoccurrence rate. She received months of chemotherapy and radiation after her lumpectomy. She has now been in remission for two years. Her faith, family, friends, and Ivy got her through recovery. Even though she had difficult days, she always tried to find the positive in each day. Instead of asking “Why me” she asked; “Why NOT me?” The thing she is most proud of occurred on October 5, 2019. 

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“When you’re diagnosed with cancer, there are a lot of things out of your control. The one thing I could control was when and how my hair came out. On October 5th, my children came into town with their partners, and I scheduled a photo shoot. My photographer was a former student. It was comforting having Desi take my pictures. We all shaved my head. It was an emotional experience, but a decision that I gladly welcomed. I loved my bald head… I was proud to be called “Baldy” for the first time in my life.”

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Jane is proud to be involved with Sing! Against Cancer and wants to give back and support the individuals who have also heard that frightening “C” word.