JAN EISNER

1962 - 2017

EISNER JAN GATWOOD EISNER Jan Gatwood Eisner, aged 55, died on Thursday, September 7, 2017 at home in Bethesda, Maryland. The cause was neuroendocrine cancer, which she battled for 18 years. She was born on July 31, 1962, in Columbus, Ohio. She was a ball of energy all her life, with a fiercely no-nonsense attitude. An artist, athlete, health professional, community activist, and mother of two sons, she lived and worked in many places, including Ohio, Texas, New York, California, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Maryland. She married James Roman Eisner on June 5, 1993, at the First Unitarian Society, in Madison, Wisconsin. She studied dance at BalletMet in Columbus Ohio and Joffrey Ballet in New York City and performed with ballet companies in Columbus, Ohio and San Antonio, Texas. She earned a BA in Psychology from Winona State University and a BS in Nursing at the University of Wisconsin. As a registered nurse, she employed her skills in clinical hospital work, teaching, and research. She co-authored several articles on nursing, including one on pain management for cancer patients. She volunteered for MobileMed, providing healthcare to low-income people in Montgomery County, Maryland, for which she received the Meyersburg Award. She founded Run for the Stripes, a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding neuroendocrine research, which holds an annual benefit run each fall at the Philadelphia Zoo. She earned a Distinguished Partner in Hope Award from the University of Pennsylvania Abramson Cancer Center, in conjunction with the NET Research Foundation, for her commitment to raising awareness and support for neuroendocrine patients and families. An accomplished athlete, she ran many marathons and was expert at boating and waterskiing. Curious, intelligent, persistant, and a fast learner, she loved mastering new skills, such as tennis, cross-country skiing, and the cello in recent years. Tireless in her devotion to friends and family, even as her cancer progressed, she rarely missed hockey games, graduations, weddings, art exhibitions, and performances by her children, siblings, nieces, and nephews. She is survived by her husband of 24 years, James, her sons Nathan and Eric, her sister Jean (Larry) Binkovitz, her brother Jeffrey Gatwood (Stephen George), her parents John and Joyce Gatwood, her aunt Roberta Dotin and nieces and nephews Beth, Isaac (Sigalit), Anna, and Elinoa Binkovitz, Hannah and Jacob Eisner, Miriam, Louise, and Karen Nielsen, and Leah (Phillip) and Sadie Pyle. A memorial service is planned for November or December in Bethesda, Maryland, and the next Run for the Stripes will take place on November 11, 2017. In lieu of flowers, please make a contribution to Run for the Stripes to fight neuroendocrine tumor disease: www.racefornet.com.A memorial service is planned for November or December in Bethesda, Maryland, and the next Run for the Stripes will take place on November 11, 2017. In lieu of flowers, please make a contribution to Run for the Stripes to fight neuroendocrine tumor disease: www.racefornet.com.