Janice M. Heter

On November 14, 2025, Jan went home to be with the Lord and her beloved late husband, Jack, her beloved sister Jeanne Consolo, and beloved parents, William and Florence Kaufman, along with several friends and other family.

Born on April 18, 1932, in Loudonville, Oh, she is survived by two nieces, Dr. Kitty Consolo (husband Barry Allman) of Granville, and Nancy Consolo, grandnieces Layla and Yasmine El-Khoury, all in Wake Forest, NC. She is also survived by cousin Lucille Hastings of Big Prairie, Oh and her sons Sid Hastings (wife Susan) of St. Louis, MO and S. Joel Hastings of Fort Lauderdale, FL.

She was a graduate of Loudonville High School and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Heidelberg. College. Her graduate work was done at Bowling Green State University, Akron University, and Baldwin-Wallace College. Like Jack, teaching was her passion. She began her career teaching second grade in Ashland, Oh. Following her marriage to Jack on June 5, 1955, she continued to teach first, second, fifth, sixth grades and kindergarten, which she continued for her last 18 years of teaching in Berea, Oh. Jan was proud of her "family," the hundreds of young people she worked with during her teaching. Her students still fondly remember her years later. One kindergarten student, who became a news anchor in Cleveland, was heard several times to mention Jan on the news as his favorite teacher ever! She took great care to create fun classroom experiences like baking cookies in the shape of letters and numbers for her students to not only learn, but to enjoy eating as a snack!

Family and friends still remember Jan's famous cinnamon rolls and her mouth-watering cookies! Jan also loved creating beautiful cards for family and friends, taking care to always remember birthdays and holidays, especially for her sister's family. She also made amazing cross-stitch pieces. Professionally, she was also a member of Kappa Delta Pi, Phi Delta Kappa, Delta Kappa Gamma, NEA and OEA. She was also a member of the United Methodist Church of Berea and an affiliate member of Holy Trinity Presbyterian Church in N. Ft. Myers.

Following their retirement, the Heters spent winters in Ft. Myers, FL. When they were not swimming their daily mile, they did much volunteer work. Jan volunteered at the Convention and Visitors Bureau of Cleveland , the Southwest General Medical Center Education Department as well as Lee Memorial Hospital and at the Edison-Ford Winter Estates in Florida. Jan enjoyed a long happy marriage with Jack. Family and friends rejoiced in celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in 2005. They also enjoyed traveling to several countries and national parks as well as being with friends and family. With her loving care, Jack and Jan enjoyed nearly nine more years together until his passing in 2014. Despite her great loss, Jan continued her love and kindness for others by making cards, cookies and cross stitch works of art for family and friends and generously donated to many charities.

Over her long life, her passion for participation with young people was greatly helped by the strong support and assistance of her husband Jack (most without any public recognition) and the assistance of co-workers. Their shared passion for education and teaching led them to create the John R. Heter and Janice M. Heter Education Scholarship c/o Baldwin Wallace College. Memorial gifts if desired may be made to this fund.

Memorial services will be held privately.