Janice E. Gerzema

It is with great sadness that our family shares that Janice (Jan) Gerzema, aged 90, passed away peacefully at her home on August 3rd in Homewood, IL.

Jan was born in Bonner's Ferry, Idaho on August 13, 1934, but Montana was always home. Along with her beloved brothers Don and Jimmy, Jan grew up swimming in Whitefish Lake while living and working at the golf course. In fact, Jan earned state honors in women's golf at the high school making her hometown proud.

Times were hard but also magical. Grandpa Fred came into their lives and offered Jan opportunities that she might not have otherwise had, including going to college at the University of Montana, which would later propel her career into higher education. She went on to earn a master's degree from Cleveland State University which led to her role as an English professor at Indiana University Northwest.

While teaching in Helena, MT she met a young bank examiner, Larry. Their courtship included golf and boating (Jan was the better water skier and golfer!). After they married in November of 1960, Jan and Larry became inseparable partners for nearly sixty-five years moving from the northwest to Laurel, MD, and raising John, Mary, Margaret and Joe in an idyllic neighborhood where all the kids on our street felt loved and cared for.  Here, Jan made lifetime friends in "Miss" Lynn, Micki, Terry and Virginia as we kids all called them. Happiness and joy filled Gramercy Lane, along with the rumblings of a 1970 yellow Ford Mustang that Jan drove proudly to the grocery store.

But Jan and Larry faced a crippling tragedy in the death of our beloved Mary in Cleveland in 1977. Their grace and compassion while dealing with their own grief taught us that love and family persist even in the darkest of times.

As a teacher, Jan was also what you might call today a 'digital nomad' and a shrewd investor: Jan's "start-up" was a Mac lab at IUN, from which she became an early investor in Apple. A voracious reader and writer, Jan was also tech support to the family well into her late eighties.

Above all, Jan radiated empathy and kindness. As her kids settled down, she lovingly welcomed in a son and two daughters-in-law Kevin, Mary and Melanie.

But most of all Jan loved being a grandmother to Megan, Ella, Nina, Paddy, Lucy, Nora, Libby and Jack. Her constant good cheer and wicked Montana humor endeared her to the younger generation. And despite declining health, she maintained good spirits; fighting so hard to be in the lives of her family for as long as she could.

Along with her brothers, Jan is preceded in death by her mother Edna, her father C. Edward Welch and Fred Wagner, who raised her.

Visitation will be held this Thursday, August 7th at Tews-Ryan Funeral Home, 18230 Dixie Highway, Homewood, IL from 2:00-5:00 p.m. and then she will return home to eternal rest next to her daughter Mary at Glacier Memorial Gardens, in Kalispell, MT. For further information, please contact tews-ryanfh.com or call 708-798-5300.