Janice Bergman Sheets

Janice “Jan” Bergman Sheets, 85, of East Lansing, MI, died peacefully at Sparrow Hospice House of Mid-Michigan and entered the Kingdom of Heaven on July 31, 2023 after a brief illness.  Jan was prepared to meet her Lord and Savior and anticipated a joyous reunion with the many loved ones she so dearly missed on Earth.

Jan was born to Gordon Eric and Rosella Margaret (Smith) Bergman in Manistique, Michigan, on August 14, 1937 and was raised in Gulliver, Michigan. She was immensely proud of her “Yooper” roots, and learned about hard work and humility growing up in the Upper Peninsula of the 1930s and 40s. She was educated in a one-room schoolhouse with her siblings and spent summers working in her grandparents’ lumberjack cook camp and on the family farm.  Jan’s love of music was apparent at an early age. She willingly tolerated the ride into town in the back of any farmer’s pickup truck to get to her beloved piano lessons, and played in an accordion band as a young teen. On Sundays, Jan sang in the choir or played the organ at the little country church. Praising God through the hymns was an enduring part of Jan’s life and music was ever-present in her home.

The family moved to Detroit after Jan completed ninth grade and she graduated from Cooley High School in 1955.  With spunk and determination, Jan enrolled in the nursing program at Wayne State University and thrived. She had tremendously fond memories of living with her fellow nursing students, forming deep friendships that lasted for decades.

Jan received her clinical instruction at Harper Hospital and became a full-time registered nurse there upon her graduation in 1958. It was in Harper’s Emergency Department where she met the love of her life, a confident medical intern who would go on to complete his medical residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.  After a brief engagement, Joe Sheets and Jan were married November 7, 1959 in Detroit, and Jan joined her husband in Rochester.

Jan continued her work as a nurse at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester before realizing her second calling — motherhood. By 1962, they were a family of four living in East Lansing. In 1967, the family of five was complete, and Jan poured herself into her roles as the mother of three active boys and a physician’s wife.

A more attentive mother there never was, whether it was making elaborate cakes for the boys’ birthday parties, singing children’s bible songs together, or patiently creating holiday crafts with them at the kitchen table. Summers were spent at the family cottage on Glen Lake, swimming, climbing the sand dunes and playing seriously competitive games of badminton and tennis.

Faith and Family were Jan’s lifelong guideposts and she instilled these values in her entire family and upon all who had the privilege of knowing her.

Jan loved watching virtually all sports, and attended hundreds of Michigan State University hockey and football games over the years. She knew every flower, tree and bush that grew – especially Michigan wildflowers – and loved planting red geraniums each summer. Joe and Jan wintered in Naples, Florida, for nearly 20 years and Jan’s love of nature meant learning all the new flora, fauna and wildlife there. Binoculars were always nearby to identify birds in both states, and she continually marveled at God’s amazing creations.

She sat on the floor to play rousing games of Old Maid with her four grandchildren, taught them to sing, “Shoo Fly Pie,” and faithfully baked Fourth of July cakes with them each year. Her kitchens produced delicious meals that would rival those of any chef at a Michelin star restaurant, and she willingly shared her recipes. A gift of anything red or heart-shaped was sure to be treasured by Jan and the family has many such heirlooms to remember her.

Jan is survived by her three sons and their wives: Joseph Donald “Don” Sheets II and Angela, David Scott Sheets and Patricia, and Timothy John Sheets and Denise; her four grandchildren, Dr. Joseph Donald “J.D.” Sheets III (Dr. Allison Cook), Kaitlin Diane Sheets (Darin Wideman), Andrew George Sheets (Dr. Paige Center), and Kirsten Margaret Budnik (Chris); and one great-grandson, Leo Joseph Sheets. She is also survived by her brother, Ronald Wayne Bergman (Sarene) and many nieces and nephews and cousins. She was predeceased by her husband, Dr. Joseph Louis Sheets, her parents, her brother Gerald Gordon Bergman and her sister, Sharon Rose Bergman.

There will be a private graveside service for family only at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Sparrow Hospice House of Mid-Michigan. Contact the Sparrow Foundation at Sparrow Foundation, 1322 E. Michigan Ave, Suite 204, Lansing, MI 48912, 517-364-3620, foundation@sparrow.org.

Arrangements are by the Estes-Leadley Greater Lansing Chapel.