Remembering Anita Jarboe this Thanksgiving
We at JFCS mourn the loss of a member of the JFCS family. Anita Jarboe passed away on the morning of Thursday, November 28th. We are forever grateful for her warm, calm, welcoming presence that greeted everyone at JFCS for decades.
Anita served as the receptionist at JFCS since 2000, and she continued to enthusiastically perform her role until a few weeks prior to her passing. For nearly 25 years, everyone who walked into JFCS was greeted by Anita’s warmth and care. We are already seeing many of our clients remark on how different things feel without her; she truly was a constant in our office amidst sweeping changes in both our workplace and the world as a whole!
JFCS employees and volunteers arranged two gatherings to reflect on the role Anita played in our lives. During those gatherings, the JFCS community recalled her kindness and appreciation of everybody despite her strong commitment to efficiency and proper record-keeping. Anita was dedicated to ensuring things were done by the rules, and she was never afraid to put her foot down to keep JFCS operations running smoothly. Yet she was equally committed to the well-being of every coworker and client who stepped into the building. Regardless of your age, your race, your financial standing, or any other variable in your life, you could be sure Anita would happily greet you each time she saw you and would periodically check in to make sure you were doing alright.
During our second gathering, Anita’s family, including her husband Jeff, visited us to reflect on the profound role she had played in their lives. Her husband told staff that Anita was as committed to keeping everyone happy in her home life as she was in her work life. Even after heart surgery, she continued to hold the strength and optimism that we have long admired her for. Jeff and the rest of Anita’s family joined us in appreciation of the many positive impacts Anita had exerted onto the world around her.
It truly is rare to come across a person as consistently dedicated to everyone around her as Anita was. We feel that she perfectly encapsulated JFCS’ vision that all in Greater Louisville hold dignity and purpose, and that all in Greater Louisville deserve to be treated in a way that acknowledges this. We couldn’t have possibly found a person to welcome everyone at JFCS who better represented what we strive to be as an organization. We continue to be grateful for the many years she spent with us.
Despite the sadness of this time, we are grateful for the ways that Anita positively impacted us, and we are grateful to have been able to similarly positively impact her. Her friends and family continue to speak of Anita’s love of JFCS and the values it represents. We know that the impact of Anita on our organization will be felt for years to come. We also know that in her continuous enthusiasm for life, she would have hoped for all of us to continue to appreciate our lives – and the good we’re capable of doing – even amidst such a huge loss.