Janine Rosenberg

Janine Rosenberg (nee Badan) was released from the hell that is Alzheimer’s early in the morning of January 13, 2020. Janine wanted no services or memorials. She figured she would have moved on to join those who’ve gone before and there was no point standing around a casket (or, in her case, an urn) for an empty shell. The family doesn’t need flowers, as pretty as they are. If you feel so moved, donations can be made in her name to the San Antonio Food Bank or The Alzheimer’s Association. Or plant something. She loved gardening. Janine Badan was born on February 14, 1940 in St. Triphon, Switzerland to Raymond and Elise Badan (nee Amiguet). It’s a small little farming village on the way up to the more tourist-focused Leysin. Being born in a pink house on Valentine’s Day is a bit over-the-top with metaphor, but it was a fairly universal opinion that Janine was the sweetest person ever. In fact, she was often referred to as “Saint Janine”. Janine eventually decided that she wanted to pursue the illustrious career of nursing. Thus, she set off to the city of Lausanne to study at the University of Lausanne. It was here that The Fates looked down and decreed that Janine’s life would take an unexpected turn in the form of American student named Donald Rosenberg. The story of their meeting had so many versions that her children have never really known the truth. But the things that remain consistent in all the versions are that nursing student Janine and medical student Don were on the emergency room rotation at the same time. After a time they got married by convincing a judge to marry them on New Year’s Eve which is very rare in Switzerland and moved to the United States. When Janine got to the States, she didn’t speak a word of English. As luck would have it, Don got welcomed home by getting caught in the draft while he was technically not in school. Don was eventually sent to Johns Hopkins University to get a Masters in Public Health. They ended up moving in to an apartment right next to a couple of hippies who had just gotten done with a stint in the Peace Corps. They used their French skills to help teach Janine English. Between them and “Days of Our Lives”, Janine’s English skills improved greatly. By the time the Army was ready to send Don to Vietnam, they had managed to pass on their genetics to two offspring: Bernard and Paula. Janine was heavily involved with the kids’ schools, doing volunteer work and doing things like sewing hundreds of pep squad uniforms and organizing band uniforms. There was even a short stint as a wedding planner. Eventually they convinced the kids to leave the house and Janine and Don moved to Charleston, West Virginia, where Don took a job as the Kanawah-Charleston county health director after retiring from the Army. Even more friends-that-became-family entered their lives in a house built into the side of a hill. When they finally retired for good, they looked where both kids had settled and decided on San Antonio. By this point, their son had managed to con Kim into marrying him and became “B” to her daughter Ashleigh and even procreated his own child by producing Lauren. Both grandchildren were the focus of Janine’s creativity. They got her quilts. She sewed their costumes. She always had a cooking or crafting activity for them when they came over. She created a box full of “things to amuse grandkids” that Lauren enjoyed emptying on a regular basis. Fun was had. At some point, Janine started having trouble reading numbers. She could see them, but her brain couldn’t process them. Because they had great healthcare from Don’s stint in the Army, Janine was ultimately diagnosed with post-cortical (aka, visual variant) Alzheimer’s. This is when the Alzheimer’s process starts in the visual cortex and messes with numbers, words, faces and spatial reasoning. She was one of 100 people diagnosed with this in the US. (There are probably thousands more, but they don’t get diagnosed that explicitly.) Even more luck appeared in the form of a researcher who studied this kind of Alzheimer’s right there in San Antonio. While this meant Janine was able to be diagnosed correctly and able to have more knowledgeable guidance on the disease, it didn’t really make much difference in the end diagnosis. She and Don just continued to navigate their way through the puzzling symptoms. On October 17, 2015, Don died during an operation. The family suspects he willed this to happen. He didn’t want his leg amputated. And he was a stubborn cuss. He just went to sleep on the table and left. And it was at this point that Janine pretty much left, too. Her body just didn’t know it. Her Alzheimer’s progressed very quickly after his death. She eventually ended up in the care of Autumn Leaves of Stone Oak. The family sends special thanks to Amanda and Heather and the whole staff who continued to try to make her life as nice as possible. She didn’t really know anyone at the end. But she continued to be sweet. Janine is survived by her kids Bernard (Kim) and Paula. Her grandchildren Ashleigh and Lauren. Her brother Roger (Marlyse). Her nieces and nephews of various generations. (Most of them reproduced. See Paula if you want a family tree.) So many friends who became family like Steve and Elaine Max, Leroy and Betsy Gooding, John and Kasha Young, Leon and Alice Menzer and many more who were special to Janine and Don. She is now finally getting to relax in the afterlife with her beloved Grandpapa Jules and Grandmaman Germaine, her mother Elise (aka Zizi), father Raymond and sister Liliane, as well as her beloved cousin