JoAn Foster Wetzel

JoAn Foster Wetzel, who had lived in Ann Arbor for the past 31 years, died at the Glacier Hills retirement community on Friday, April 12 2024. JoAn was born and raised in western Michigan. During her earliest years she lived in Benton Harbor and Kalamazoo, where here father’s employment with Michigan Bell took the family in the pre-WWII years. She was primarily later raised, however, in Grand Rapids, where she graduated from (Creston) High School (class of 1954). She then attended Grand Rapids Junior College for two years, before moving on to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, from which she graduated with a BA in Journalism.

At U of M she met fellow journalism student Roy Wetzel, whom she married in 1959, the year after both received their degrees. He survives her. The first stop in their married life was Rochester, NY, where they remained for six years. JoAn worked there at Eastman Kodak, the predominant employer in the community, while Roy worked in broadcasting. The couple next moved to Washington, DC, in the Fall of 1965. While in DC JoAn worked in the trust department of a large bank. They remained there until the end of 1969, when, at the behest of Roy’s employer (NBC News), they moved to Chicago. In mid-1971 they made a similarly motivated move to Cleveland, where JoAn again worked in the trust department of a bank. And at the end of 1973, once again at the behest of NBC News, they moved to New York City.

It was during her 20 years there that JoAn discovered the most satisfying vocation of her life, which was at a prominent Episcopal Church, St. Thomas Fifth Avenue, a cardinal parish with its own nationally renowned choir school. She became first a parishioner and soon thereafter also joined the administrative staff. She continued that work for more than a decade until retiring. While living in Manhattan JoAn and Roy enjoyed season tickets to the New York Philharmonic during all 20 years they were there, and frequently took in Broadway offerings. In those years, they often vacationed in Bermuda or London. After both retired, they returned to Ann Arbor, in 1993, to live a quiet retirement. Altogether they spent 65 happy years together. In Ann Arbor, JoAn was active at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, where among other activities she served for many years as Assistant Treasurer.

And there is this somewhat strange set of coincidences: JoAn’s month and day of birth were October 14th, a birthday she shared with President Dwight Eisenhower. Her month and day of death were April 12th, a date of death she shared with President Franklin Roosevelt.