Janet Medina (Curow) Reed, PhD, passed away on December 14, 2009. She had been under the care of Arbor Hospice in Ann Arbor, MI since August while she bravely fought ovarian cancer.

Janet was born and raised in Muskegon, MI. She was educated at Muskegon Community College, Western Michigan University and the University of Michigan where she received her Masters and PhD in education. She began working as an elementary school teacher in Kalamazoo and Lansing, and conducted workshops for teachers in K-12.

Next she continued facilitating workshops on how people learn. Janet was a peace corp volunteer in Venezuela in the 60s where she taught teachers how to teach. She pushed her limits and went to Outward Bound in the Gila wilderness. Georgia State University hired her to teach in the field of educational psychology where she continued to pursue learning.

She was hired to be a personnel director of Schlumberger and to organize how research labs operated. She then worked for several other companies, including Ford Motor Company.

In 1999 she married Milton Reed, her high school sweetheart and moved to Polk County, NC. Janet always pursued many avocations such as traveling, cooking and reading to name a few. She had her first child Gregg Medina while working in Georgia.

He is now the father of two sons and married to Melissa (Dotson) of Whitmore Lake, MI. His sister Ellen Medina was born in Portland, OR and lives with her boyfriend Thomas Ippolito Jr. in Las Vegas, NV. Janet enjoyed traveling with Milt in their motorhome. They spent a lot of time in nature hiking, hunting and fishing. Janets final vocation was quilting which she thoroughly enjoyed.

She was unconventional, a free thinker and did not follow the beaten path. As Emerson once said, she went where there was no path and left a trail.

A memorial celebration was held at Matthaei Botanical Gardens on Thursday, December 17, 2009 at 6 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Arbor Hospice or the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund.