toledoblade.com -- The Blade ~ Toledo Ohio

toledoblade.com -- The Blade ~ Toledo Ohio

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JANET L. EMERINE, 1946-2010
BGSU math lecturer taught 30 years in Seneca County
By JIM SIELICKI
BLADE STAFF WRITER

NEW RIEGEL, Ohio - Janet L. Emerine, a teacher who began her 30-year career in New Riegel and went on to become a well-respected instructor of mathematics education at Bowling Green State University, died Thursday at age 63.
A campus security officer found Mrs. Emerine's body in her office around 10 p.m. Thursday. Her daughter, Kimberly Howard, said an autopsy would be performed.
Mrs. Howard said her mother had an evening appointment with a student, which was typical for her.
Mrs. Emerine went the extra mile to help students, working into the evening and taking phone calls at home, her daughter said.
"She was one of the hardest-working individuals I have seen," Mrs. Howard said. "She was there for her family and for her students."
Mrs. Emerine was born June 16, 1946, in Fremont, the oldest of eight children, to Alvin and Besse Clouse.
At age 19, while studying for her bachelor's degree at Bowling Green State University, she began teaching in New Riegel Local Schools as part of a state program to develop more educators to fill a teacher shortage, her daughter said.
She remained with the district in southwestern Seneca County 30 years, retiring at age 49, although her daughter said "retiring never really occurred to her."
Mrs. Howard said her mother never considered teaching to be a "nine-month career" but rather a service.
During the summers for about 20 years, she taught education courses at Miami University, Michigan State University, University of Toledo, and Ohio State University.
She worked on education projects at BGSU, and in 2004 she became a full-time instructor in its school of teaching and learning, said Daniel Brahier, a colleague there.
"Her official title was lecturer, but that was the last thing that she would ever do is lecture," he said, calling her a hands-on teacher who "never stood in front of her classroom" to lecture.
She kept late office hours to be accessible to student teachers returning from classrooms. "Her relationship with her students was very special," said Mr. Brahier. "She had a reputation that at the end of the semester, once students were finished with their field work, she would put on a feast. She'd lay out a tablecloth and bake and cook for them. That was Janet."
Her daughter echoed that sentiment. "There wasn't a day when she didn't cook for her students when there was something to celebrate," Mrs. Hammond said. "My mother understood what it was like to struggle and she always shared her food."
Rosalind Hammond, interim dean and associate professor at BGSU, said Mrs. Emerine will be sorely missed by her students.
"She put them [the students] above anyone else." Ms. Hammond said.
Mrs. Emerine was active in professional organizations, local and statewide, and was well-respected for her devotion to teaching and to mathematics, said Mr. Brahier, who first met Mrs. Emerine while attending graduate school at BGSU.
She was in Columbus last week working on a project for a teachers' organization.
She is survived by her husband, Dennis D. Emerine, whom she married June 10, 1972; daughters, Jennifer Dorado and Kimberly Howard; brothers, Tom, Dave, Floyd, and Steve Clouse; sisters, Marge White, Ruth Brown, and Martha Davis; and two grandchildren.
Visitation will be from 2 to 8 p.m. tomorrow at Engle-Shook Funeral Home, Tiffin. The funeral will be at 10:30
a.m. Wednesday at All Saints Parish in New Riegel.
The family suggests tributes to the Erin Marie Emerine Scholarship Fund, named for a daughter who died before Mrs. Emerine.
Contact: Jim Sielicki at:
jsielicki@theblade.com
or 419-724-6078