Jan Mock, 58, formerly of Dallas, died Sept. 28, 2018, following a long battle with cancer.
Born in 1960, Jan served on the board of directors of The DFW Black Tie Dinner for a number of years, including as co-chair throughout 1996-1997, a period of tremendous growth for the event. Her leadership and unwavering commitment to the Dallas community led to initiatives that became standard business practices for
Black Tie Dinner, including more robust entertainment and contractual initiatives with venues. Prior to and after chairing, she worked with ticket sales, which for a time was the event’s largest source of revenue.
Jan moved to San Francisco shortly after her tenure with BTD, and soon made partner at the law firm where she worked. An avid bicyclist, she sometimes rode her bike from her home across the bay in Tiburon to work downtown. She often commented on the pleasure of riding across the Golden Gate on her morning jaunt and on how much she loved the City by the Bay.
In 2012, Jan was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She fought hard and beat it at the time, eventually receiving a clean bill of health. Shortly after she started to get her strength back, she met Carole Sykes, also an avid bicyclist. They married in a magical ceremony overlooking a moonlit San Francisco Bay in September 2013. Jan and Carole loved to get away to Hawaii every December, and they rode the mountains of Tuscany in Europe more than once. Jan loved the people the culture and the language of Italy, and her Italian got pretty good, She was, for a time, cancer-free.
After five very happy years of marriage, the cancer returned. This time it was very aggressive, and all treatments and experimental therapies failed to stop its progression. Jan transitioned from this life on Sept. 28, and is free of the pain, frustration and suffering that were increasingly affecting her quality of life these last nine months.
Jan’s contributions to her friends, family, community and work are too many to mention, but they were all exemplary examples of this wonderful giving woman. She definitely left a significant mark on this earth, and she will be missed by all those she so deeply touched.
