Obituary of Janet Patricia Scehovic

BOLTON LANDING:  Janet P. Scehovic of Bolton Landing, NY passed away on March 23, 2026 at her home.

Janet was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey on January 14^th, 1937 to the late Perina Casciano and Edward Morcom.  When Janet was four years old her parents moved to Oradell, New Jersey.  At the age of three her parents noted Janet’s affinity for music and wanting to encourage that they bought her a piano.  She started taking serious piano lessons at age seven.  By the time Janet was a teenager she had many of the local children taking lessons from her.  After going through the Oradell school system Janet went on to finish high school at Dwight Morrow High School in Englewood New Jersey.  During this time, she began giving full classical concerts for the benefit of the school’s music department as well as playing benefits for Oradell Jr. High School and a performance to raise money for the building fund for Pascack Valley Hospital.

After graduating high school Janet was accepted at the prestigious Julliard School of Music in Manhattan where she made many lifelong friends and rubbed elbows with some of the exceptional pianists of that time such as John Browning, William Kapell and Van Cliburn.  To help finance her way through school she took whatever odd jobs she could find including one as an artist’s model where her likeness was used in magazine illustrations and on soft book covers.

Janet was married in 1957 to Ray Wagner and had two children, Raymond and Leslie.  After graduating from Julliard, she continued teaching privately and worked as an accompanist for the middle school and later the high school choirs in the Hackensack, New Jersey school district following her divorce to support herself and her children.

In April 1976 Janet married Tom Scehovic.  Together they made a life for themselves and their children in a big old wonderful two-family house in Maywood New Jersey, where there always seemed to be a continuous flow of friends and family coming and going. It was a wonderful home where everyone who came into it felt welcomed and it was because of Janet’s big heart and openness people felt that way.  She was always there if someone needed help or encouragement.  Many of her former students, from her private teaching and from her time as an accompanist for their choirs, would stop by just to talk and tell her about their lives and how things were going.

Never one to be idle Janet could always be found in the middle of some project or other.  If it wasn’t making new curtains for the windows, she was wallpapering the kitchen or painting a bedroom or making garden beds in the backyard.  But her greatest passion, besides her many dogs, was the piano.  She would spend hours at her vintage Steinway grand piano practicing, learning new pieces and playing old ones.  Music was her joy and her life.

In 1984 Janet and Tom took a trip to Lake George where Janet had spent many vacations with her brothers and parents when she was a kid.  After spending some time at the lake and looking around the area, they wound up purchasing a piece of property in Bolton Landing with the idea that they might want to live there some day.  By 1986 the children were on their own and the time seemed right to make a move if they were going to do so.  A buyer who was interested in investing in properties bought the house in Maywood and in 1987 Janet and Tom became residents of Bolton Landing, N.Y.

Janet soon became well known in the area.  She volunteered for Meals on Wheels, was the church organist for the United Methodist Church for a while, was the piano accompanist for many of the choir concerts at Bolton Central School and many of the adult talent shows.  She also played at the Easter Sunrise Service at the Sagamore Hotel for many years.  The Glens Falls Ballet hired her to accompany the ballet classes and was well loved by students and staff.  She made some very close friends there and wound up having some of the students take piano lessons from her.

One of Janet’s fondest dreams was to be a member of a two-piano team.  In 1997 she discovered that another Julliard graduate and former classmate, by the name of Herb Chatzky, had relocated to Newcomb, NY.  After getting together and finding similar interests and that musically they complimented one another, the dream of having a partner to play two pianos with came true.  After months and months of rehearsal, on October 24, 1999, they performed a two-piano concert at the Newcomb United Methodist Church to a packed house.  It was a huge success.  Afterwards Janet and Herb started talking about preparing for another concert to be given for the July 4^th holiday.  But, unfortunately, an injury to one of Janet’s fingers, which required surgery, prevented Janet from playing for a long time and the two were never to team up again.

January of 2024 Janet was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer which had also spread to other areas of her body.  She fought the disease hard for two years and for a while it looked as if she would beat it.  But, in the end, it infiltrated a place where treatment wouldn’t be of any help.  She tried with all her might to stay…but she had to leave us.

Janet is survived by her husband Tom Scehovic, her son Raymond Wagner III, daughter Leslie (Wagner) Bell, and five grandchildren; Lauren Wittenberg, Christopher Fezza, Lindsay Bartolucci, Nicholas Fezza and Michael Wagner; seven great grandchildren: Kayden, Mason, Jack, Luke, Ian, Joey and Danny.

Heartfelt thanks to High Peaks Hospice for their care and expertise.  Thanks also to all of the doctors and nurses at CR Wood Cancer Center for doing their upmost; better care couldn’t be found.

Rather than spend money on flowers and gifts Janet would ask that you make donations to High Peaks Hospice: 1247 Dix Ave., Hudson Falls, NY 12839, www.highpeakshospice.org, CR Wood Cancer Center, 100 Park Street, Glens Falls, NY 12801 or any charity that touches your heart.

A memorial service for Janet will be held on Sunday, April 12, 2026, 2pm at Adirondack Christian Fellowship, 8 Mountain Ledge Dr., Suite #2, Wilton, NY.

Please visit www.alexanderfh.net for online condolences and guest book.