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From the humid jungle of prewar Indonesia, to the red clay of Lincoln County, Jan Vassar was an energetic, amazing woman who touched countless lives during her nearly 84-year journey on this Earth.
Janice Kay Rollins Vassar, always known as Jan, was born on June 19, 1940, in the Indonesian village of Talang-Aker, and she spent the early years of her life in Pendopo, Sumatra, Indonesia, where her father, Ivan (Ike) Belmont Rollins, worked in the oil industry. She and her parents, Ike and Gene Garnett Griffith Rollins, moved with Ike’s job to many locations in the U.S. and worldwide prior to settling in Tulsa, where she was a proud member of the first graduating class of Thomas Edison High School, Class of 1958.
She attended Lindenwood College in St. Charles, Missouri and obtained a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tulsa.
Jan was married to Paul Miner Vassar in 1962 in Tulsa, and they lived in Norman before moving to Chandler in 1965. She raised David Sloan and Andrew Paul Vassar in the family home at 500 North Chigger Road and resided there until her passing in her own bed in the early hours of February 5, 2024.
She worked in journalism for many years, including KTUL television in Tulsa, for various publications including the Stroud American and the Lincoln County News, and freelance work. From 1985 to 2010 she was Editor of the tribal newspaper and head Librarian of the Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma, and greatly treasured her time working there and the lifelong friends she made at powwows and in compiling an oral history of the tribe. Jan never wavered from her exacting standards of journalism, always commenting on dress, language, and style of both print and broadcast journalists she read and saw.
Jan was active in the community and state, serving on the Oklahoma Education Commission, Lincoln County Equalization Board, in various capacities with the Lincoln County Democratic Party, as founding member of the Lincoln County Arts & Humanities Council, PEO, the First United Methodist Church, and as a Board Member of the Chosen House and the Oklahoma Historical Society. She was especially proud of her organizational role in support of the Indian Summer Arts Festival on the Lincoln County courthouse lawn in the early 1980s. Recently she was proud to serve on the committee which made recommendations to the Chandler City Manager and Council.
Jan truly traveled the globe in her more than eight decades. In addition to Indonesia, oilfield stops and travels included every settled continent. She and Paul visited the United Kingdom multiple times and enjoyed the company of family members there. As recently as her 68th year, she found herself on an epic South American quest with her cousins, which included a memorable night in a Bolivian police station. Jan always subscribed to the axiom attributed to Mark Twain: “If you travel you cannot be prejudiced.”
In addition to travel, she enjoyed time with her family and friends, history, music of all kinds, reading, and current events. She was a lifelong, dedicated Methodist who believed and practiced the Wesleyan Quadrilateral of scripture, tradition, reason and experience. She was an ardent Democrat. She loved animals and nature, and the Vassar Home was always a haven for both domestic and wild creatures. In 1995, she acquired Top Cottage on the Illinois River and as late as Labor Day 2023 treasured the time spent there among the tall pines and clear waters of the Cookson Hills.
Predeceasing Jan were her parents, Ike and Gene Rollins, aunts Cecille Bales and Shirley Blackwell, uncles Verl, Vade and Lee Griffith, and cousins Bonnie Matles, Donna Schmidt and Jim Griffith. She is survived by Paul, David of Dallas, Andrew and daughter-in-law Mary Ann of Tulsa, cousins Vaden Bales and Sally and Steve Strong of Tulsa, Larry Blackwell of Florida, Terri and Don Grabendike of Kansas, Paula and Peter Morse of South Carolina, Susie Ryan of Kansas, Jane Logue of Illinois, brothers and sisters in law Joe Sam and Linda Vassar of Bristow and William A. III and Rene Vassar of Edmond, nephew and niece William A. IV and Ashlea Vassar of Fort Worth, her beloved dog Yeti and cat Nicky, and hundreds of friends she considered her cousins. She was a wonderful wife, mother, family member and friend, and she was a proud citizen of this town, county, state, nation and planet. Her wonderful smile will not be forgotten and she will be greatly missed.
Jan and the family would like to express their gratitude for the care visited upon her by caregivers Amy Van Den Brand and Jessica Stoutzenberger, as well as family physician Dr. Wendell Richards. In her final days, Jan expressed a preference that any donations in her memory be made to the Lincoln County Historical Society or the First United Methodist Church of Chandler.
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