Janice Raeburn Reaume

Janice Turcotte Reaume passed away Sunday, January 21, 2024. She was born June 7, 1929 in Rhinelander, Wisconsin to Hazel and Harry Turcotte. She spent her early years in Monroe Bridge, Massachusetts, a little mill town where her father was a foreman at the paper mill. She loved that little town and the idyllic childhood spent in adventures with her best friend Jean Mellin. "I can name every family in every little house there," she said often. Janice and her family relocated to Dearborn, Michigan, where she graduated from Fordson High School and met and fell in love with Gilbert Reaume. They spent over 60 years together.

She was a whip smart, quick witted, fierce little person who was utterly devoted to her family. She loved to read, she loved dogs and cats. She always, always was dressed neatly and with care because her self-respect and in turn respect for others demanded it. She was a good cook, although she didn't love cooking, and a very good baker, especially of chocolate chip cookies. She was adept at bookkeeping and organized Gil's businesses, from farming to his farrier practice, even though cows and horses kind of scared her. She was a quiet little person who was dropped into a boisterous family when she married. She was a city girl who liked the indoors and yet she lived most of her adult life in the country.

She and Gil raised three children: Jeanne (Don) Van Wieren, Spring Lake, MI; Mary Reaume Alvera, Webberville, MI. Their son Christopher passed away in 2019. Gilbert died in 2016. She was predeceased by her parents Hazel and Harry, her sister Jean Valleau. She is also survived by grandchildren Ana (Jack) Alvera, Nina Alvera Perez and Jenny (Jayson) VanWieren-Page and great-grandchildren Miklo Perez, Deya Perez, Sierra Warren, Tommy Warren, and Elena Roosa. She leaves behind a loving multitude of nieces and nephews. She has been a parishioner of St. Mary's in Williamston since 1965.

In spite of the increasing fog of Alzheimer's the last several years, she fought valiantly to be herself and she succeeded. Her daughter Mary took unselfish and devoted care of her and because of that, Janice was able to live out the last chapter of her life on her own terms. We should all be so lucky.