Letch, Jean Lois 1923-1999

LETCH, FERNEAU, INGLES, NJUS

Posted By: Marilyn Holmes (email)
Date: 7/8/2012 at 11:04:50

The Grinnell (IA) Herald-Register; March 25, 1999

JEAN LOIS LETCH

Dr. Jean Lois Letch, 75, of Akron, Ohio, formerly of Grinnell died March 6 at Akron City Hospital, Akron, Ohio.

Funeral services will be conducted at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Smith Funeral Home in Grinnell, with Pastor Carol Wehr of the Sheridan Methodist Church officiating. Organist will be Alice Renaud, and soloist will be Naomi DeHart. Casket bearers will be Glen Njus, Wendy Ingles, Kirk Ferneau, Michael Ingles, Derek Poteet and David Ferneau. Burial will be in Maple Grove Cemetery, Montour.

The daughter of George Glen and Effie Ferneau Letch, she was born Nov. 16, 1923, in Montour. She was raised in the Montour area and attended rural schools. She was a 1940 graduate of Montour High School.

She received her bachelor's degree in kindergarten and primary education from Iowa State Teachers College in Cedar Falls and taught lower grades in Gladbrook. She earned her master's degree in school administation from UNI in 1967 and her doctorate in education from the University of Iowa in 1973.

During the 1940s, '50s and '60s, while married to Col. Olav Njus, she traveled extensively throughout the United States and Europe.

She lived in Grinnell during the 1970s. She developed the Gifted and Talented program for the Grinnell-Newburg Schools.

She joined the faculty of Union College in Barbourville, Ky., in the fall of 1980 as an assistant professor of elementary education. She was promoted to associate professor in 1982 and became full professor and head of the Education Department in 1987. She was named professor emerita in 1993.

At the time of retirement, she was honored with the establishment of the Dr. Jean Letch Education Scholarship.

She was a member of Iota Sigma Nu, the Union College scholastic honor society; a charter member of Union's education society, Phi Delta Kappa; and a member of Lambda Chapter, Delta Kappa Gamma, the women's education honor society. She was historian of the National Society of the D.A.R. and was a member of the Barbourville First United Methodist Church.

Surviving are her mother; her children, Lois Ingles of Swansea, Mass., and Glen Njus of Akron; five grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

She was preceded in death by her father and her daughter, Camille L. Njus.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Dr. Jean Letch Education Scholarship Fund of Union College.