Jan was born in Port Deposit, Maryland, where her father, Dr. Charles Fraser, was stationed in the navy. She was the second daughter of Chuck and Virginia Fraser, after her devoted sister, Cindy, and before younger sisters Amy and Laura. Though she was born in Maryland, she spent the rest of her life in Colorado, where she loved the mountains, wildflowers, skiing, and her peaceful home in the foothills with her husband, Roy Crawford.

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As a child, Jan was a golden girl, with her blonde pigtails, bright smile, sparkling intelligence, and cheerful (if willful) disposition. She was a natural athlete, strong and energetic, and competed on the ski team and swim team in high school, where she tried to get the local Search and Rescue Patrol to allow girls to participate (she was just a bit ahead of Title IX.)  In college, she played volleyball. Her greatest sport was skiing, swooshing down black diamond powder slopes with grace and glee, leaving everyone behind in her rooster tails.

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Jan attended Colorado College, where she got a degree in Economics. She went to work in the outdoor recreation industry, where she could combine her passions for skiing and the mountains with her incredible business sense. She spent ten years running operations at Crested Butte Ski Area, which she often looked back on as some of the best years of her life. She would take off into the mountains in her landcruiser, "Sarge," finding new vistas and wildflower patches, daring to head over the gnarliest passes to get further into the pristine wilderness that she loved. During winter, she would ski nearly every day.

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She moved to the front range, where she got an Master's in Business Administration at the University of Colorado, and had several jobs in financial services, strategic planning, and global IT and vendor management. In 2004, she married Roy Crawford at the lodge overlooking Evergreen lake. They made their home in Conifer, in a house with a view of pine trees and foothills. Jan finally found her work home at Prologis, where she worked in Global Vendor Management, with a team of people she considered her friends, who were supportive of her throughout her illness; Jan continued working up until her last week.​

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In June 2016, Jan discovered she had an aggressive and rare form of cancer, which proved to be even stronger than she was. She died peacefully on December 24th, 2016, surrounded by her family. She is survived by her father, Dr. Charles H. Fraser; her sisters Cynthia Fraser Taylor (and beloved brother-in-law Brad Taylor), Amy Mease, and Laura Fraser; husband, Roy Crawford; nephews Chad Fraser Taylor (Jan nicknamed him "Shorty"), Scott Taylor ("Scooter"), Cole Mease ("Coleman"), and niece Kelsey Mease; and her stepdaughters Hannah Crawford and Lily Crawford. 

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She is also survived by her beloved golden retriever, Sunny.

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Laura wrote this article, "My sister's cancer might have been diagnosed sooner--if doctors had looked beyond her weight," published in STATnews of the Boston Globe on August 16, 2017, about how doctors overlooked Jan's cancer. Please share with other women and doctors if you can.

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