Amy Janicki and her dog Yogi. (Photo provided by family.)
A new scholarship endowment will memorialize Amy S. Janicki ‘13, who suddenly passed away in 2015. Janicki, who was a member of the Sigma Delta Tau sorority at Geneseo, graduated with a bachelor of science in accounting and was employed by Freed Maxick, an accounting firm in Buffalo.
Janicki’s parents, Dennis and Susan Janicki of Cheektowaga, N.Y., and fundraising support led by Madeline (Maddie) Herrick ‘14, a sorority sister, established the $25,000 endowment to create the Amy S. Janicki 2013 Memorial Scholarship. The endowment will provide funding in perpetuity of at least $1,000 for the annual scholarship. The scholarship will be awarded to SUNY Geneseo students with preference given to Sigma Delta Tau members.
The Janicki family made the final gift to create the endowment. “Maddie has done a tremendous job with respect to getting the fund going and raised a significant amount,” said Amy’s father, Dennis. “More than 125 people contributed to the initial fund.”
Herrick launched the fundraising initiative as a way for the sorority to memorialize Janicki. “I wanted to lead the effort because I was never going to give up on making it an endowment,” said Herrick. “Geneseo was Amy’s second home. Everything she did came back to how much she loved her friends and the community.”
“Amy was involved with a lot of things at Geneseo, especially through the sorority,” said Amy’s mother, Susan. Janicki served as treasurer on the executive board of Sigma Delta Tau and participated in fundraising events, including the American Cancer Society’s annual Relay For Life. In the community, she volunteered at the Teresa House, a comfort care home in Geneseo.
Sorority sister Holly Judge ’15 said, “Amy was good at balancing college classes, her social life, and her sorority duties, and she traveled back and forth to Buffalo to work at Wegmans like the loyal employee she was.”
Judge remembers when she and Janicki donated their hair at Relay For Life. “We giggled and cringed as we watched them chop off our ponytails,” said Judge. “Looking back, I’m so happy we decided to do this because not only did we help out a great cause, but it’s also a memory with Amy that I’ll never forget.”
Janicki’s influence on others was evident everywhere she went. Judge recalls her making friends with people from the Toronto, Canada area during a vacation in Mexico. “These new friends actually kept in touch with her and traveled to Buffalo to attend her services when she passed. The fact that Amy made such a huge impact on them in such a short time is a true testament to who Amy was.”
Family and friends are thrilled that Janicki’s memory and love for Geneseo will live on through the new endowment. “There are few things Amy loved more than Geneseo, and we know this endowment is an amazing way to give back to the people and place that meant so much to her,” said Judge. “We hope Amy’s memory can inspire her fellow Geneseo students to live life the way Amy did—to work hard, to have fun, and to smile while doing so!”