Kenneth Poe Funeral Services

January 7, 2026

Jan was born Janice Teresa Hall on May 13th, 1944, in the village of Brigstock in England. As the title of village suggests, Brigstock is a small rural place with one school, one main store, and no traffic lights in sight, but it did have two pubs and a tight knit community that shaped her love of England and its countryside. As the second oldestof seven children, she was quick to remind her younger siblings to tidy their rooms and keep their hair combed. She learned selflessness, to loathe waste, and to value her time with family. As a child born during WWII she developed a disdain for the word rations and learned how to very practically keep calm and always carry on. This pervasive set of deeply English traits would stay imbedded for life and was a point of pride for her that explained her being a green-card carrying resident her whole life so as to always remain a British citizen and loyal subject of the crown.

She moved to America in the seventies, bringing her swinging London, go-go boots style with her, and was often asked if the very outfit she was wearing could be bought there on the spot. She struggled at first to come to terms with the oppressive southern humidity of North Carolina and the inclusion of mayonnaise in virtually all dishes, but, over time, she adapted and even learned to make some of the finer collard greens you would ever taste. In 1978 she became a mother to a son who became the focal point of her life until his own sons were born many years later and he was mercilessly replaced at the top of her preference list. 

She went to work for First Union in the mid-1980s, which led to her eventual career steadily moving up the ranks in their trust and personal banking department. She made many great life-long friends during her time and with the bank and she often spoke fondly of her time there.

Jan was an avid reader, preferring crime and mystery novels, a worldtraveler, often travelling back to England to visit her family but being particularly fond of Italy and Malta where she went almost annually during the early 2000s, and a lover of classical and symphony music. She loved pasta but wouldn’t say no to a good hot dog and loved to discuss the international shows on PBS that only she had ever seen. She never met a set of linens she would ever be able to part with and hoarded cleaning supplies and paper products before it was trendy. It is also quite possible she drank 9,000 Diet Cokes a day. But above all she was an A+ mother, grandmother and friend. She always put her son, her siblings, and her friends ahead of herself and remembered everything you ever said you liked and would gift those things to you over the course of your life. Her greatest love in her final years were her two grandsons who she spoiled with delight and bragged about to anyone who would listen. 

In summary: she was a wonderful, thoughtful person, a loyal friend, a loving, selfless mother, and a proud generous grandmother.

She is survived by her son John and his wife Jenny; her grandsons, Harrison and Cameron; and her siblings Karen, Jane, Hillary, and Lindsey and they will all miss her very much.

The Family will receive friends on Friday, January 16th from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM at Kenneth W. Poe Funeral & Cremation Service at 1321 Berkeley Avenue.  

Arrangements are in the care of Kenneth W. Poe Funeral & Cremation Service, 1321 Berkeley Avenue, Charlotte, NC 28204; (704) 641-7606. Online condolences may be shared at www.kennethpoeservices.com.