Janet T. Correll

Janet Correll was the single child of John and Gladys Thomson. She was born in England on July 7, 1944. In 1949 she migrated to the United States — specifically Lincoln Park, Michigan — where she grew up. As she ruefully would explain, “I arrived with a beautiful English accent but it was ‘beat’ out of me by my early grade-school teachers.”

She graduated Lincoln Park High School in 1962. At the time she scored the highest combined SAT score in the history of the school. (But she never said anything about it because, to use her words, “it was no big achievement.”)

She met John Correll at Adrian College in August 1964, at which time they became smitten with each other. She graduated college in June 1967 with a bachelor’s degree in secondary education. She also served as president of Alpha Phi sorority.

Janet and John married on August 18, 1967. For the first seven years of their peripatetic marriage they lived in seven different places, living from paycheck to paycheck. In December 1973 her father loaned them $3000 for a downpayment on a small house in Canton, Michigan, where they lived for the rest of Janet’s life.

Janet gave birth to two children: son William Thomson Correll, born April 27, 1969 and daughter Lesley Ann Correll, born July 27, 1970. She raised them with steadfast love, care, and meticulous devotion to detail. Son William became an urgent care physician, Lesley became a dental hygienist. Janet also had a wonderful grandson, Liam Thomson Trevino, and a caring daughter-in-law, Rhana Correll. Those four persons plus her husband John comprised “her” family — to which she was steadfastly devoted.

In 1988 Janet’s mother underwent a hemiplegic stroke, paralyzing the entire left side of her body. In 1989 Janet’s father died. Her mother was then brought into Janet’s home, where Janet provided near-total care for her wheelchair bound mother for ten years. 

Janet pursued various jobs over her lifetime. The one she found most meaningful and enjoyable was an 8-year stint as manager of the giant seedling house of Clyde Smith & Sons Farm Market & Greenhouses (now, sadly, converted to residential development).

Janet’s steadfast hobby was horticulture or, more specifically, the annual planning, buying, and planting of flowers and other types of plants around the small “grounds” of her house. Viewing her plants during the summer was one of her supreme joys in life. 

She also was a voracious reader on a daily basis. Fictional books and the daily newspaper were her favorite material. Her reading speed was super-impressive. And her mental retention of what she read was, as well. Her favorite TV program was Jeopardy, which she vigorously “competed” in, from her chair, every night it was on. Occasionally she proudly would announce something like, “this evening all three contestants got the ‘final jeopardy question’ wrong, and I got it right.”

Janet did not have a vast number of friends, but the friendships she had she nurtured. If you had her for a friend, you had a true friend.

In short, she was a dedicated loving friend, mother, grandmother, and wife … but most of all, she was a supremely fine and caring human being.

A Memorial Gathering will be held at the Schrader-Howell Funeral Home, 280 South Main Street, Plymouth, Michigan on Friday, September 20, 2024 from 3:00 P.M. until 7:00 P.M.

Those who wish to honor the memory of Janet T. Correll are invited to consider an online contribution to American Horticultural Society or by mail at American Horticultural Society, 7931 East Boulevard Drive, Alexandria, Virginia 22308; Michigan Humane Society, 30300 Telegraph Road, Suite 220, Bingham Farms, Michigan 48205-4507.

Contribution envelopes will be available at the Funeral Home.