Dr. Joseph Louis Sheets

Dr. Joseph Louis Sheets East Lansing Dr. Joseph Louis Sheets, 77, of East Lansing, loving husband, father and grandfather, passed on to join the Lord, Friday, February 27, 2009 at Sparrow Hospital. He died of heart failure. Joseph was born October 2, 1931 in Marietta, Ohio, to parents Dr. Joseph Donald Sheets and Agness Holst Sheets. He graduated from Denison University in 1953, with honors in Biology and was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. He went on to medical school at Temple University in Philadelphia, returning to Michigan to complete his internship at Harper Hospital in Detroit in 1958. While at Harper Hospital, he met the love of his life, Janice Bergman. They married on November 7, 1959 in Detroit. They moved to Rochester, Minnesota, where Joseph completed his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the Mayo Clinic as well as a master's degree from the University of Minnesota. Joseph and Jan chose to start their professional and family life in East Lansing in 1962, where Joseph joined the practice of Lansing Ob-Gyn Associates, with Drs. Mahlon Sharp and Richard Johnson. The practice flourished under the guidance and leadership of these outstanding physicians. During his distinguished 30-year career in the Lansing area, Joseph performed more than 10,000 deliveries and 5,000 major surgeries. He was a leader in medical education, and served as a role model for physicians, residents and students as a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Michigan State University's College of Human Medicine. He served on the board of the Sparrow Foundation, was a co-founder and director of Physician's Health Plan and served on many boards and committees with the American College of Obstetrics & Gynecology. In 2004, Dr. Sheets was the recipient of Sparrow Health System's highest honor, the Founders' Award, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to medicine and to the hospital. In further recognition of his leadership and vision, he was inducted into the Sparrow Hospital Physicians Hall of Fame in 2006. He is survived by his wife of 49 years, Janice; his three sons, Joseph Donald Sheets II (Angela) of Midland, David Scott Sheets (Patricia) of Saline, and Timothy John Sheets of Rockford; and four grandchildren, Joseph Donald Sheets III, Kaitlin Diane Sheets, Andrew George Sheets and Kirsten Margaret Sheets. A memorial service will take place at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, March 7, 2009, at River Terrace Church, 1509 River Terrace, East Lansing, Michigan. The family will receive friends at the church from 10:00 a.m. until service time on Saturday. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Estes-Leadley Funeral Home 325 W. Washtenaw St., Lansing. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Dr. Sheets' memory to the Joseph L. Sheets, MD Ob/Gyn Medical Education and Research Endowment fund at Sparrow Hospital.