Janet Egri

Janet Marie Kuska Macy Egri, 78, formerly of Taos passed away on October 14, 2014. Female broadcast pioneer and long-time women's rights advocate, Janet spent her formative years in Omaha, Nebraska. The only daughter of Val and Marie Kuska, Janet graduated from the University of Nebraska's College of Agriculture in 1957. Her first job was as an extension specialist in radio and television home economics instructor at Kansas State. From there, Janet continued her career in radio and television at the University of Nebraska, Iowa State University and the University of Minnesota. Janet's broadcast career spanned several decades and multiple continents. In addition to hundreds of U.S. radio and television appearances, Janet traveled to Russia with her brother Richard in 1994 through Winrock International to share agricultural information to rural women and farm families via the only independent radio station primarily devoted to women at the time: Radio Nadezhda (Radio Hope.) She married Taos artist Ted Egri in 2005 and remained active in the Taos arts community even after his death in 2010. Janet was also preceded in death by her brothers Richard Val Kuska and Calvin John Kuska. She is survived by her sisters-in-law Marcia Kuska and Fran Kuska, nephew Bradley Kuska, and four nieces who still benefit from her efforts in women's rights: Carolyn Kuska, Ann Kuska Derr, Nancy Kuska Clark and Mary Kuska Knight. A gathering for family and close friends will be held on Monday, December 29, 2014 from 2 to 4 PM at Taos Center for the Arts.