He praised Mrs. Harwood's "people skills" and ease in putting visitors on an "emotional level with the art" they encountered during their visits.
"With her red hair, wonderful complexion and smile, she was a welcoming and glowing presence, and our Walters' guests and groups instantly warmed up to her," Mr. Shields recalled. "In fact, she was so popular, that returning groups would often ask for her. That's how much she was loved and respected."
Mr. Shields added: "She was a model volunteer that any institution would love to have."
Molly Edgar, a North Roland Park resident and now a part-time Walter's docent, got to know Mrs. Harwood in the mid-1980s.
"The Peabody Elderhostel program that she created is still going on. It will be Jan's legacy," Ms. Edgar said yesterday. "She even kept in touch with some of her elderhostel students."
She said her friend "loved to learn and share her knowledge."
"I have reams and reams of notes from her regarding the collection," Ms. Edgar said. "When she took people into the gallery, it was very hands-on, and with her great smile, she made people want to learn."
Mrs. Harwood retired from the Walters Art Museum about a decade ago.
Mrs. Harwood, who had an interest in holistic medicine, was a member of the New Life Clinic Church at Mount Washington United Methodist Church.
"Her heart was very close to the surface, and she was a very engaging person," Mr. Vikan said. "She was always sharing meditation tapes with me."
Mr. Shields recalled the comfort she brought him when his father was dying.
"Jan believed in alternative therapies and gave me a series of exercises on certain pressure points, which gave me a great deal of emotional relief."
A longtime Wiltondale resident, Mrs. Harwood enjoyed painting in her earlier years and liked writing poetry.
"She was a unique and remarkable person," said her husband, who is also a rail historian and author. "She leaves a strong afterglow."
Plans for a memorial service were incomplete Thursday.
Also surviving are two sons, George W. Harwood of Baltimore and Geoffrey L. Harwood of Barcelona, Spain; two brothers, John Wagner of Salisbury and Dr. James Wagner of Point Pleasant, W.Va.; and a sister, Marjorie Styer of Barberton, Ohio.
