Janina Czajkowski Esselen, professor emerita of nutritional sciences, died on Oct. 2 at the Hospice of the Fisher Home in Amherst. She was 100 years old.
Born May 11, 1915, the eldest daughter of John W. and Aniela (Orszulak) Czajkowski, she was raised in Hadley, Mass., and graduated from Hopkins Academy. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in 1936 from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and two master’s degrees, one from Cornell University and the other from Harvard. In 1963, she earned an Ed.D. from Boston University.
Czajkowski worked as a dietitian in the U.S. Army during World War II. Her career at the University of Connecticut began in 1947 in the School of Home Economics, and she moved to the Department of Nutritional Sciences in 1972 to start the community nutrition program, which she led until her retirement in 1983.
She was a pioneer for the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program, a federal extension program, and under her leadership Connecticut was one of several states that ran pilot nutrition programs for low-income families with peer nutrition educators from the community. She worked with leaders at the USDA in Washington on many community nutrition initiatives.
During her career she wrote a series of booklets on the foods and traditions of New England, France, Poland, China, and Hawaii, among others. For many years, she authored a weekly column, Table Talk, for the Hartford Courant. In her retirement, she continued her interest in nutrition through many professional organizations, and was a lifelong learner with the Learning in Retirement Program at UMass.
After her retirement, she moved back to the Amherst area, and in 1985 married William Esselen with her 93-year-old father walking her down the aisle.
On her 100th birthday in May, the Department of Nutritional Sciences arranged for alumni who had been recipients of a scholarship award in her name to submit cards and letters to her with information about their lives and achievements. She later said it had been the best birthday of her life.
“She was so pleased that her scholarship made a difference in the lives of these students,” says nutritionist Linda T. Drake, director of UConn’s Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program, who has known Esselen since 1970.
Czajkowski Esselen leaves sisters Nellie Griffin and Bertha Clark; sister-in-law Angeline Czajkowski; stepson Richard Esselen; and grandchildren Sandra Higgins, Cheryl, Richard, Jr., and their families. Her husband, William Esselen, sister Mildred, and brothers Joseph and John, predeceased her.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held Oct. 7, at 10 a.m. at Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Chapel at the Newman Catholic Center, University of Massachusetts. A calling hour will precede the service from 9 to 10 a.m. in the Chapel. Burial will follow in Wildwood Cemetery, Amherst, Mass.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be designated to the Janina M. Czajkowski Scholarship in Community Nutrition. Please make checks payable to The UConn Foundation Inc., and forward to 2390 Alumni Drive, Unit 3206, Storrs, CT 06269, or The Newman Catholic Center, 472 North Pleasant St., Amherst, MA 01002.
Obituary and memorial register at www.douglassfuneral.com. To sign a Guest Book, express condolences, share memories, and read other obituaries, go to www.gazettenet.com/obituaries.
