Janice Ellen Hedblom

Janice Ellen Hedblom, age 84, of Towson, MD died peacefully after a short illness at Sunrise Assisted Living Community in Columbia, MD on August 3, 2023. Born in Chicago, Illinois, she was the daughter of the late Helen (Blahut) and Frederick Ruza. She is survived by her niece Lauren Benson Cook (Doug) of Merritt Island, Florida, long time close friends, and her Collie, Maisie. Jan is predeceased by her loving husband of 54 years, Jack Henry Hedblom (1938-2015) and sister Lynn Benson (1941-2007) of Baltimore. She received a BA degree from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana and a MSW degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Early in her social work career she held positions in mental health agencies in Kansas and Mississippi. She was a board certified clinical social worker in Maryland and held clinical and leadership positions at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in the Departments of Social Work and Psychiatry for almost thirty years, retiring in 2004. She held an appointment in the Hopkins School of Medicine and published in the areas of psycho-social needs assessment and family treatment. Jan maintained a private therapy and supervision practice and volunteered with the United Way of Central Maryland for many years as a loaned executive, a member of various committees, and chair of the Community Agency Certification Task Force and the Outcomes Advisory Committee. Her family and friends most appreciated Jan's sense of humor, independent nature, and strength of character. She was loyal, trustworthy, fun, caring, inquisitive, well organized, and intellectual. With her husband, she enjoyed riding her motorcycle, travel, music, collecting art, and playing with their many collies. Jan also enjoyed playing the piano, bridge games, reading, and new technology; she was a lifelong learner. Plans for a celebration of life are incomplete at this time. Donations in honor of Jan may be sent to Gilchrist Hospice, 11311 McCormick Rd, STE 350, Hunt Valley, MD 21031 or make an online donation at gilchristcares.org/donate.