Janet E. Turner

Janet Elaine Turner, 63, of Ruxton, Md., devoted wife of John Michael Heinz and sister of Carolyn Turner Getsie, passed away Monday, May 15. She was born in Pittsburgh to Thomas and Jane Turner and lived in Monroeville from 1965 to 1975. Jan was an ardent lover of words, a skillful writer and, with a sparkle in her eye while raising her eyebrows, a witty pun-maker. She was a 1971 graduate of Gateway High School. Jan earned her bachelor's in speech-language pathology and audiology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1975 and her master's in speech pathology at Syracuse University in 1976. Dr. Turner completed her doctorate in speech communication at Penn State in 1987. After working for two years at the University of Wisconsin in Whitewater, she worked for 25 years as the director of the Speech-Language Pathology and Assistive Technology Department at Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, Md. She was also assistant professor in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Jan was nationally known as an expert clinician in pediatric speech and language disorders and for having an outstanding clinical training program. Jan touched and shaped the professional and personal lives of many trainees and colleagues. She served as president-elect of the Council on Academic Accreditation, which accredits clinical doctorate and master's programs in speech-language pathology and audiology. Outside of her professional career, Jan loved to kayak with her family and sail with her husband, spending many Tuesday evenings racing their sailboat, the Roadrunner, with a crew of friends in the Baltimore Inner Harbor. Among her many talents, she constantly read books, knitted, sewed and scrapbooked. She was deeply loved by her family and friends. She is survived by her husband, John M. Heinz; her stepson, Michael Heinz (Karen Hull) and their children, Jonathan and Ainsley Heinz; and her sister, Carolyn T. Getsie (Tom) and their children, Katy, Scott and Brian. She is also survived by her aunts, Lois A. Gillingham, Shirley M. Turner and Doris M. Turner, many cousins, and many close friends.
Jan was a member since birth of First United Methodist Church of Pittsburgh, where a memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. June 3.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to First United Methodist Church of Pittsburgh, 5401 Centre Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15232; or to the John Fetting Fund for Breast Cancer Prevention, Kimmel Development Office, 750 E. Pratt St., Suite 1700, Baltimore, MD 21202.