Obituary of Jill M. Banik

BANIK-Jill Marie (Anderson), 61, Northern Cambria, PA. Born, April 25th, 1963 and passed away peacefully in the arms of her family on September 1st, 2024 at Conemaugh Hospital.  Jill was married to her very devoted husband, Andrew (Andy) Banik for 39 years.  He was not only her loving and loyal friend and husband but an outstanding caretaker to the end.

Jill was proceeded in death by her mother, Joanne (Long) Anderson, her uncle, Roy John, her grandparents Irvin and Agnes  and Julia and Roy.  She is survived by her husband, Andy and their two children, Mandy Banik, (Elkton, MD) and Brady Banik (Northern Cambria); father Thomas Anderson, sisters:  Amy (Roland) Paronish and Margie Anderson; her mother in law, Madeline Banik, three kitty cats and numerous family and friends. 

A lifelong resident of Spangler, she was born, grew up, and then raised a family on the same hill where she played as a kid and spent some of her last good days on earth, enjoying her pool, gardens and forest friends.  She graduated from Northern Cambria  in 1981 and went on to study at IUP.  She graduated with a BS in Elementary Education in 1985 and later went back to achieve a Master's degree with certificates in reading and ESL.

Jill retired from the Northern Cambria School District and worked as a teacher for over thirty years.  She taught several classes throughout her career but her favorite was ESL.

Jill was a local scrapbooking legend and was making scrapbooks for us before it was a thing. She loved to travel, both near and far and never failed to seize an opportunity to go somewhere or do something.  Her favorite places to visit included anywhere with sand, sun and palm trees.  She was also legendary among family and friends for her knowledge of flowers and love of gardening.  Jill always loved having a good "pool party" or going to any type of party for that matter. She was highly organized and a meticulous planner.  As much as she enjoyed the girly frilly things like manicures and her jewelry, she also loved riding dirt bikes, then later, motorcycles, bicycles, snowmobiles, going for quad and buggy rides up on the hill and rides for ice cream in the Vette with Andy.

If to only name a few, Jill taught us to be creative, caring, appreciative and giving.  She was one of the "fun moms" and in many ways, more hip than most. She always dressed the latest fashion to include "teacher clothes" and liked pop music and went to many concerts with Brady and introduced Mandy to Broadway shows and other stage performances.  If you asked her, she'd probably tell you there was no such thing as bad ice cream and she loved a good board game.

Jill was a member of (former) Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Prince of Peace Catholic Church.

If you talk to her son, he might tell you she was swept out to sea on a yacht in the Caribbean, her sister, might say that she was trampled in a rope drop stampede at Disney, her husband might say she took the curve to fast on her motorcycle, if you talked to her daughter you may have heard she fell taking photos from atop of the Eiffel Tower, her friend might tell you she was swallowed by a whale while snorkeling in Hawaii, but the truth is, after eight years (to the week), of making the most of her life with dementia, it took her out of this world like a snow squall.

We would like to send a heartfelt thanks to all the doctors and nurses at Conemaugh Hospital for doing an exceptional job taking care of us all.

A Funeral Mass will be held Friday, September 6th at St. Bernard's Hastings at 11:00am, Rev. Fr. Thaddeus Rettger, OSB, celebrant.  Interment at the church cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Mandy Banik, PO Box 322 Northern Cambria, PA and will be used to benefit the NC community in some way.

Arrangements are in the care of the Askew-Houser Funeral Homes, Inc., Ebensburg.  Condolences to the family may be left at www.askew-houser.com