Janet Elizabeth Reed

Janet Elizabeth Reed, age 88, of Greeley, Colorado passed away on Saturday, August 7, 2021. She was born in Newton, Iowa on December 26, 1932 to Lauriston and Fern Miller. She graduated from Madison High School in Wisconsin in 1950 and then married James Wallace Reed, whom everyone knew as Jim, on June 1, 1951; they were married for 57 years. Together they moved around the country; from Wisconsin, to Chicago, to Peru (where they were missionaries) back to Wisconsin, to California, to Colorado, to Arizona and finally back to Colorado. During this journey, they had four children: David Jonathan in 1953, Susan Elizabeth in 1955, Steven James in 1958 and Timothy John in 1966.

Janet, who preferred to be called Jan, was a full-time homemaker and mother for most of her life. However there was a short period of time spent as a key-punch operator at IBM in San Jose, CA and later, many years as the church secretary at First Evangelical Free Church in Tucson, AZ, until she retired.

She was always an artist, though it wasn’t until her years in Tucson that she had the time and space to really experiment. During this time, she created remarkable chalk drawings and oils. Her oils were mostly of scenic places, but her chalk drawings were often of birds. Her drawing of a bald eagle, and another of a pair of puffins, are beautiful. She also did a lot of sketching, but she loved the chalk medium the most.

Jan was an avid birder and took many trips to bird watch and add to her life list. After her death, her children found a box brimming to the top of the records of her bird watching walks and trips, with the date and place, as well as the bird species noted. She loved owls especially, as evidenced by the many photos of owls and owl figurines that decorated her living spaces.

She loved to travel. During the time spent in Peru, where Jim was a radio-operator for a small village along the Amazon River, she worked with the village women, even though she had David and Susan to mind. Her son, Steven, was born in Lima, Peru; she had to travel by small plane to Lima in order to give birth. Once back in the States, the family began to go on camping trips to various parks and recreational areas. Later on, after the kids were out of the house, Jim and Jan bought an RV trailer and did many road trips; the most outstanding was the drive from Arizona to Alaska. There was also a trip to Europe with their youngest son, Tim, visiting the countries of Germany and Switzerland. However, Jim and Jan’s “trip of a lifetime” was to the Middle East, where they visited Jordan, Israel and Egypt.

Her husband, Jim, died in Loveland, Colorado in 2008. After Jim’s death, Jan moved to Greeley to be closer to family. She is survived by her daughter, Susan (Stephen), her sons Steven (Glenda) and Timothy (Kristin). Her eldest son, David (Joan) died in 2019. She is also survived by 8 grandchildren, 8 great-grandchildren and 6 great-great grandchildren.

If you would like to make a donation in Jan’s honor, please do so to either the Audubon Society or the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.stoddardsunset.com for the Reed family.