Barbara Janet McCollum

Barbara J. McCollum, 78, a lifelong educator and mother of three, passed away Sunday Nov. 17, 2024, in Lowell, Mich. Ms. McCollum was a kindergarten teacher for more than 20 years in Michigan and Nevada. She was an avid runner, completing many long-distance endeavors including multiple entries in the Chicago Marathon.

A graduate of Michigan State University on June 6, 1969, with a bachelor’s of science in interior design. She was a student affiliate with the American Institute of Interior Design. Ms. McCollum was an exemplary student and was a synchronized swimmer. She earned a separate degree in elementary education, a bachelor’s of fine arts, also from Michigan State, and later earned her master’s degree in elementary education.

She was born Barbara Janet Coram in Pontiac, Mich., on Dec. 9, 1945 to Agnes Florence (Fry) and Norman Ernest Coram, the second of three between brothers David and Barrie.

Ms. McCollum was a devout Christian, attending church regularly. In recent years she went to Evergreen Missionary Church in Lowell, until advanced dementia hindered her ability to attend. Throughout her life, she was an avid reader, a regular visitor to the library — often reading five books at a time. She loved being outdoors, not just to swim or run, but to hike, walk, kayak, bike, and visit with neighbors. She grew up a skier and was a lifeguard. She always held a certain sense of adventure.

Ms. McCollum was a teacher at Tonopah Elementary and Silver Rim Elementary, both in Nevada, and earlier in her career taught at Durand Area Schools in Michigan. She also taught Sunday school at University Baptist Church in East Lansing, Mich.

She specialized in cooperative learning, assertive discipline, and peer tutoring. She received science training from the Lawrence Livermore Institute and worked through the math training program “Beyond Unifix Cubes” by Kathy Richardson.

Her memberships and affiliations included time with the National Association for Education of Young Children, the National Education Association, the International Reading Association, Delta Kappa Gamma, and the Association for Children and Adults with Learning Disabilities (Michigan Chapter).

She is the mother of and is survived by Kristin (Patrick) Revere, Matthew (Jaime) McCollum, and Kara McCollum. She also is survived by brothers G. Barrie Coram and David Coram, as well as grandchildren Cody (Sophia), Cassidy, Carsten, Cayleigh, Cameron, Maddy, Abbey, and Seth.

Ms. McCollum is preceded in death by her parents Agnes and Norman Coram.

Services will be held Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024 at Gorsline Runciman Lansing, located at 900 E. Michigan Ave., Lansing, MI 48912. Visitation begins at noon and the service begins at 1 p.m.

Found with a photo of her father, placed in the pages of her bible, a poem first published in 1934:

Immortality

by Clare Harner

I am not there. I do not sleep.

I’m a thousand winds that blow.

I am the diamond glints on the snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning’s hush,

I am the swift uplifting rush

of quiet birds in circled flight,

I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry;

I am not there. I did not die.

Memorial contributions may be made in Barbara Janet McCollum's name to West Michigan Hospice, www.westmichiganhospice.com