Jan Louch, 87, died November 3rd in Gardnerville. She was born in the Bay Area to Henry "Hap" and Katherine "Kay" Haight.
After living in Great Britain, Ohio, New York State and the Bay Area, Jan moved to Douglas County in 1969. Her parents owned property in Genoa where Jan had spent past summers.
An avid reader, she found her dream job in 1978 when she accepted a position at the Douglas County Public Library working for Director Yvonne Saddler. When the new building was completed in 1982 the two decided to add a pair of Scottish Fold cats to the staff to deal with a mouse problem, following the example of the British Post Office which historically had cats on its payroll for that purpose.
Following her retirement from the library Jan collaborated with author Lisa Rogak to chronicle the lives of the two library cats in the book The True Tails of Baker and Taylor: The Library Cats Who Left Their Pawprints on a Small Town…and the World published in 2016.
The family requests no flowers. Memorial donations can be given to the Friends of the Douglas County Library, the World Wildlife Fund, or the charity of your choice.