Janet Carolyn Sell

Janet Carolyn Sell (Jan), a longtime elementary school music teacher in the Walled Lake School District, died from cancer at the Ascension Hospital in Novi on July 16, 2022. Born at Grace Hospital in Detroit on May 8, 1946, Jan was 76 when she passed.

Having lived in Walled Lake since 1973, Jan retired from teaching in the Walled Lake School District in 2005. Through the years Jan never forgot her students. She took great pride when they performed in Junior and Senior High School productions and attended them whenever possible. In the 2002/2003 school year she was named the Teacher of the Year at Loon Lake Elementary School.

Jan was a tireless worker across a wide variety of organizations. Some of these were but not limited to: The First Presbyterian Church of Farmington as a lay minister, deacon, and a long-time vocalist (and occasional director) with the choir, Adult Mission Trips, and Open Door at Fort Street Presbyterian Church in Detroit.

Jan prided herself in being part of the first graduating class from North Farmington High School. She later graduated from Tusculum University in Greeneville, Tennesse. Her major was Music Education, and her minor was Chemistry, an unlikely combination.

Through the years beginning in 1970, Jan was an avid traveler whose trips spanned the globe. She was in search of expanding her education through other cultures, especially in the areas of art, architecture, cuisine, and music.

However, her greatest passion was musical theatre. She traveled to Broadway yearly with the University of Michigan. There she attended a wide variety of shows that were written, produced and/or acted in by U of M graduates.

Friends and family, however, will remember Jan as a marvelous baker and chocolatier. If you never were blessed by Jan’s truffles, you truly missed something special.

Jan is survived by her sister, Peg Berry (Michael) of Venice, Florida, brother Harvey Sell (Pam, her nieces, Carrie Beeney (Patrick) and Alison Sell and nephew, Matthew Sell (Halie).

A memorial service will be held at 1PM, Saturday August 27 at the First Presbyterian Church of Farmington, 26165 Farmington Road, Farmington Hills.

In lieu of flowers if you wish to donate, please send your donations to:

Fort Street Presbyterian Church Open Door

631 Fort Street, Detroit, Michigan 48226