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AUGHEY, JAN ELIZABETH BERNASCONI, 50
AUGHEY, JAN ELIZABETH BERNASCONI, 50, of Stowe, left this life peacefully on September 29, following a long battle with motor neuron disease. Jan was born on January 25, 1962, in Barre, to Carole Griffin Bernasconi and John E. Bernasconi. She was raised and received her early education in Barre. On July 3, 1993, Jan married Robert M. Aughey Jr. at Ira Allen Chapel, University of Vermont. They had made their home in Stowe since 1994, raising their two sons. Jan was a 1980 graduate of Spaulding High School where she was a long and high jumper for the track team, an office aide and a cheerleader. In 1984, Jan graduated from the University of Vermont with a BA in political science. Following UVM, Jan attended Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, Mo., graduating with a JD in 1987. Jan was chosen as a member of the Order of Barristers in 1987 for obtaining high honors and having exhibited excellence in the art of courtroom advocacy. Jan was also active in Moot Court and was a member of the top-seeded second-year team in 1985. She also served on the Moot Court Executive Board. Jan was also chairperson of the Women's Law Caucus Networking Committee and was selected to attend the 1987 National Women in Law Conference in Washington, D.C. Jan was proud to have followed in her father's footsteps as a lawyer. She worked as a law clerk during the summer of 1985 at her father's law firm, Bernasconi and Koch. Jan had a clerkship at the Vermont Supreme Court, summer 1986, and then worked as a law clerk at Schuchat, Cook and Werner in St. Louis in 1987. After receiving her Juris Doctorate, Jan worked in Boston as a litigation associate at Carolan, Sullivan and Greeley. In 1992, Jan followed her heart back to Vermont and began working at Paul Frank and Collins, Burlington, where she headed up the effort to establish the family law practice at that firm. She became a member of Paul Frank and Collins in January 1996. Jan earned a reputation as one of the premier divorce lawyers in Vermont. She took a leave of absence in mid-2000 to be home with her young sons. Ultimately, Jan chose to remain at home to raise her family rather than resume her law practice. Her passions were her family, her gardens and her home. She was a generous and accomplished hostess who entertained lovingly and frequently. Jan was an accomplished skier and avid tennis player. A willing and frequent volunteer, she served as president of the Stowe Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization from 2004 to 2006. Jan also served as the VT Affiliate for the Advocacy Program of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PAN CAN), in honor of her mother. Jan leaves her husband, Bob Aughey, and sons, RJ and Ryan, both at home; her father, John Bernasconi of Barre; a brother, Jay Bernasconi and wife, Jen, of Barre, and a sister, Jayne Bernasconi and husband, Paul, of Baltimore, Md. She is also survived by a nephew and nieces; by her aunts, Joyce St. Francis of Burlington, Claire Simmonds of Riverside, R.I., Barbara Wilson and husband, Richard, of Colchester, Conn., and Edna L. Bernasconi of Barre; by an uncle, Charles Griffin and wife, Laurel, of Oceanside, Calif.; by the wife of her late uncle, Rosemarie Bernasconi of Burlington; and by many cousins, in-laws, other extended family, and close friends. The loss of Jan will also be felt for all her days by her best pal, Sophie, her beloved Golden retriever. Jan was predeceased by her beloved mother, Carole; by her grandparents, Charles and Marilyn Maxine Griffin and Rene and Dorothy Bernasconi; by her uncle, Rene Bernasconi; and by her father-in-law, Robert M. Aughey Sr.
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