Down the Drain with Jane

About the Book

Jane and her husband, on assignment with AID, the U.S. Agency for International Development, traveled to Pakistan in 1953 with their three children to be faced with an experience that proved to be both funny and frustrating as well as educational. In Down the Drain she outlines some of these issues with humor and empathy. Her detailed memory is enhanced by the letters that she wrote to friends in the States, three of whom saved them and gave them back to her when she returned home.

About the Author

In 1953, Jane Tessitor, her husband Frank, and their three small children, traveled to Karachi, Pakistan, where Frank had been assigned by the U.S. government to set up and equip a soil-mechanics and hydraulics research laboratory for the Pakistani government under the auspices of AID (Agency for International Development). During the three years she was there, she was active in volunteer work, principally as founder and director of the International Karachi-American Recreation Program which held 18 weekly activities for children and adults of nine nations. Her earlier experience, when she was president of the Denver YWCA Young Married Women’s Club, proved to be invaluable for this project. After they left Karachi, Jane and the children (then 15, 12, and 6) settled in Glendora, California, where she gave lectures and fashion shows about Pakistan. The family lived briefly in Bethesda, Maryland, and in 1961 Frank, Jane and Joyce headed for a five year stint in Taipei, Taiwan, where her volunteer activities included founding the Taiwan Western Art Library which was housed inside the National Central Library under the direction of Dr. Chiang Fu Tsung. She received a commendation from the Taiwanese government for this effort. Following her return to Glendora, members of the Press named her one of 20 International California Women for her contributions in the field of fine arts. She soon became president of the Glendora Coordinating Council; president of the San Gabriel Valley Symphony Women’s Committee; and president of the Citrus College Foundation. The Glendora Chamber of Commerce named her Citizen of the Year 2000 (the City’s highest honor) for her volunteer efforts. At the age of 50, she began working for the first time as staff writer and receptionist for the Monrovia Journal/Duartean newspaper, and the following year she was hired as Public Relations Coordinator for Foothill Presbyterian Hospital, Glendora, which was under construction. She retired from her 15-year position at the hospital in 1956. Jane is 91 years of age, has five grandchildren, and seven great grandchildren. She lives at San Antonio Gardens, a senior retirement home, in Claremont, California, with Mai Tai, her silky terrier.