Patch Read of the Day: Berenstain Bears Co-Creator Has Died

Jan Berenstain, one of the co-creators of the classic, beloved children's series of books, The Berenstain Bears, passed away Friday after a stroke, .

Her death comes the same year the characters celebrate their 50th anniversary. 

Born Janice Marian Grant in Philadelphia in 1923, Jan met Stan Berenstein in 1941, according to their website. They married after World War II, and had two children, Leo and Mike.

They began careers as magazine illustrators and decided to try a children's book. Under the tutelage of Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, their first book, "The Big Honey Hunt," was published in 1962. More than 250 million copies of their books have been published over the years. Stan died in 2005 at the age of 82.

The Berenstains lived in Solebury for many years and became popular residents in the local artistic community. Ellen Mager, owner of Doylestown's for more than 30 years, met the couple on several occasions.

When Mager learned Monday that Jan Berenstain had died, one thought occurred to her.

"The first thing I thought of was, she’s back with Stan," Mager told Doylestown Patch. "I really didn’t think of them separately. I thought of them together. That’s just the way it was."