Jane Gomersall Zohn

1932 - 2021

News story
By Mark Zaborney
Blade staff writer


Jane Gomersall Zohn, who brought a zest for knowledge to her Whitmer High School science students, died Saturday in hospice care at Heartland of Perrysburg. She was 88.

She was in skilled nursing care after breaking a hip in July and died in her sleep, said her daughter, Barbara Ward.

She was widowed at age 49 and remarried at age 74 to Alvin Zohn, then a still practicing Point Place optometrist. He died June 3 at age 95.

The couple's travels included Israel, which each had long wished to visit. He was Jewish and she Episcopalian and on weekends went together to The Temple-Congregation Shomer Emunim in Sylvania Township and to her church, Trinity Episcopal downtown - and took religious study courses at each.

"That was such a love," her daughter said. "They were science-based, intelligent, hard-working people. Neither wanted to waste time. They enjoyed learning and having conversations where you think and challenge."

Mrs. Gomersall Zohn taught biology, honors biology, and anatomy for more than 30 years at Whitmer. Returning from an outdoors adventure, "she couldn't wait to come back and teach about it," her daughter said.

One summer, she spent two weeks on a three-acre rock 25 miles into the Atlantic Ocean off Bar Harbor, Maine, to study humpback baleen whales.

"Midwestern kids do not know a whole lot about the ocean," the teacher, after her return, told a reporter. "There is so much life there, so many organisms. The water is thick with them, like gelatin."

Beyond the classroom, she encouraged students in science-fair projects and accompanied them to district and state events.

"She was so inspirational through her enthusiasm for life," said Bernadette Terry, who began in the Whitmer science department in 1990 and now teaches in what was Mrs. Gomersall Zohn's room. "She hooked those kids into wanting to learn."

Laura Brennan did her student teaching in 1981 with the veteran teacher. They remained friends - and Mrs. Gomersall Zohn became like another grandparent for her sons, both now adults.

"She was so kind, so welcoming, so stern - just totally dedicated to her students and to teaching science, I fell in love with her," Mrs. Brennan said.

She was honored as a teacher of the year by the Teachers' Association of Washington Local Schools. She was a former officer of P.EO., which promotes education for women.

After retiring from her science classroom, she became a long-term substitute at Whitmer for several years.

Born Dec. 30, 1932, to Elsie and Johnathan Stinehelfer, she was a graduate of Scott High School, then obtained bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Toledo, where she continued post-graduate studies.

She liked to hike and golf and travel.

"Jane was one of those people who could look at life and find something good," Mrs. Brennan said.

She and her first husband, Brand Gomersall, married in 1954. He died in 1982.

Surviving are her daughter, Barbara Ward; son, William Gomersall; stepdaughter, Beth Zohn; stepson, Jerry Zohn, and eight grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 4-7 p.m. Wednesday at Blanchard-Strabler Funeral Home. Funeral services will begin at 11 a.m. Thursday at St Andrew's Episcopal Church.

The family suggests tributes to Science Memorial Scholarship through the Whitmer Science Club and sent to Whitmer High School in care of Mrs. Terry.