Jan Parsons Jury

Dear Mom, Grandma –

If there is one thing we learned from you, it’s the importance of a good thank you note. We thought it only fitting that this chapter of your life be closed with a well-deserved, Thank You.

Thank you for your wisdom. You were born Janet Arlene Simonis to Gregory William Simonis and Linnea Anna (Anderson) Simonis April 23, 1940. We are writing this on your birthday over a mimosa toast.

Thank you for your Midwest roots. Born and raised in Stevens Point, Wisconsin you instilled the importance of honesty, kindness, and need for family time on Hagerman Lake. Thank you for being a role model. As a nursing grad from Mercy School of Nursing, you taught us the value of education. This inspired us to achieve advanced degrees both in and out of the medical profession.

Thank you for your unconditional love as a daughter, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and wife. After starting a family in Chicago, you moved to Northern Michigan in 1976 where you created a home that harvested memories of tree climbing, sticky buns, and holiday traditions.

Thank you for your moxie, infectious energy, and natural ability to forge friendships, no matter the situation, made you a stranger to none. The need to bring family together no matter how small the occasion, no detail ever overlooked. Thank you for your passion, and of course your love of travel, real estate, and playing bridge. Your adoration toward family and friends was second to none. Never missing a game or opportunity to support no matter the endeavor or direction taken.

Thank you for your style. Always impeccably put together for whatever the occasion, but never hesitating to get your hands dirty to care for the lilacs, feed the chickens, or trudge through the snow. Thank you for your sense of humor. Every time you spilled red jam on your pressed white pants, you did with a laugh. Now, with every mishap we’ll think of you with a smile and remember not to take ourselves too seriously.

Last, but not least, thank you for your affinity toward bobby pins, lipstick, and sticky notes. The endless supply recently found throughout your belongings put a smile on all our faces.

Thank You again for being you… Love,

Robyn (John, Haley, Spencer), Nate (Shawn, Devin, Morgan, Linnea), and Dana (Tracy, Caiden, Griffen)—with love.

P.S.

If you want to thank Jan, a celebration of life will take place Sunday, May 28, 1:00-3:00pm at the family farmhouse north of Harbor Springs, 4766 Heynig Road. Donations can be made to The Women’s Resource Center of Northern Michigan or Habitat for Humanity.