Jean A. (Kiser) Pastorek

Jean Alice Pastorek, age 96, passed away on February 2, 2026 at Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh with her family at her bedside.

Born August 14, 1929 to John Howard and Alice (Kemper) Kiser in New Kensington, PA,  she was one of four children and graduated from New Kensington High School in 1947.  In 1955, she married pharmacy graduate Edward Grajcar and settled in Cheswick, where they would raise their three children and where she lived for the rest of her life.  She hosted Thanksgiving Dinner there for her family for 70 years.

After her husband’s passing in 1974, she studied nursing at St. Francis School of Nursing in Pittsburgh and went on to work at Allegheny Valley Hospital and later at Presbyterian Senior Care in Oakmont, where she helped to establish the pharmacy.  Jean married Frank Pastorek in 1978 and later cared for him at home for over a year at home as he fought valiantly with cancer.

Jean’s six grandchildren were the joy of her life. She was a member of Our Lady of Victory Roman Catholic Church (now Guardian Angels Parish), and she loved reading, gardening, writing letters, and listening to the organ.  She was an avid cook and baker and was still trying new recipes just before the holidays.  She also loved visiting the ocean and walking on the beach.

She was preceded in death by her two brothers, Earl Kiser and Robert Kiser, and her son Edward A. Grajcar. She will be missed by many, and is survived by her sister Eunice Jones, her two daughters, Dr. Barbara (David) Crowe and Patricia (Robert) Edwards, her six grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.

The family extends its deepest thanks to the women and men of the Lower Valley Ambulance Service, the UPMC doctors and particularly the nurses and aides, as well as to the nurses and aides at The Willows in Oakmont for the love and abundant dedication given and shown to our dear mother.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Charles B. Jarvie Funeral Home, Springdale, PA.  In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Humane Animal Rescue (www.humaneanimalrescue.org

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