Jan left us too soon, and is dearly missed. But we are comforted in knowing that she has been reunited with the love of her life, Paul and her sweet Saint Bernard, Duchess. Jan was always a positive ray of light and will forever be remembered for her hearty laugh, her beautiful smile, and her genuine kindness.an was born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania to her parents, Kathryn (Kay) and Harry Yecies. She grew up in McKeesport with her two older brothers, Louis (Lou) (of Chicago, Illinois) and Paul Yecies (of Sharon, MA), and graduated from McKeesport High School in 1967.

Jan graduated from Youngstown State University with a degree in elementary education. After graduation, she was an elementary education teacher in the Cleveland School District for several years before moving to the Atlanta, Georgia area. In Atlanta, she worked as a Human Resources Executive for several organizations until she and her best friends Will and Traci Fleck started Spectrum Recruiting, a recruiting and executive placement firm. Jan was an expert recruiter and relationship-builder; she helped match thousands of people to the perfect job while helping organizations fill hard-to-find positions in the healthcare, biomedical, consumer products, and insurance industries.

Over the years, Jan also enjoyed her time volunteering at several prominent organizations, including the Atlanta Chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management, the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, the security detail for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, the personnel operations team for the Georgia State Defense Force, the BlueHair Technology Group whose mission was to educate adult seniors about technology and tools, and the Johns Creek Youth Football Association where through her love for kids and sports, she became a founding board member and helped JCYFA become the fastest growing youth sports organization in the north metro area.

The most important things to Jan were her family and friends. Jan was kind and caring, she was always willing to help and always put others first. Jan could brighten a room with her beautiful smile and joy for life shining through.

Jan met the love of her life, the late Paul Mercer, in Atlanta. Jan and Paul were happily married for almost 25 years, until he passed away last year. Jan enjoyed the roses Paul picked for her from the rose garden in their yard that they cherished together. They lived an amazing love story and their home was always filled with love, laughter, and roses!

Jan and her husband Paul enjoyed watching and supporting the Atlanta Braves, and as a native of Pennsylvania, Jan was the Pittsburgh Steelers biggest fan. Jan got to enjoy home games with her family growing up in nearby McKeesport and after moving to Atlanta, seldom missed a broadcasted game – her neighbors always knew when the Steelers were playing! She also loved college football and enjoyed cheering-on her favorite team, the Michigan Wolverines – Go Blue.