- Date Of Birth: December 3, 1929
- Date Of Death: March 30, 2015
- State: Illinois
Joan (Zeller) Orcutt, 85, of Peru, passed away March 30, 2015 at Illinois Valley Community Hospital in Peru.
Mrs. Orcutt was born December 3, 1929 in Cissna Park to Lee and Verna (Swanson) Zeller. She married John Orcutt on December 26, 1948 in Cissna Park Methodist Church. She was a member of Grace United Methodist Church in LaSalle. Mrs. Orcutt was a graduate of Cissna Park High School. She attended Northern Illinois University, Illinois State University and University of Illinois, graduating with a Masters in Education and Administration. She was selected for Phi Beta Kappa for outstanding grades and leadership.
Mrs. Orcutt taught grade school at Utica Elemetary and later at Northview Elementary in Peru where she also served as principal for over 25 years. In her personal life, she cared deeply for her family and those close to her. Her selfless and generous spirit will be sorely missed but fondly remembered. Professionally, she was a gifted teacher who engaged her students with memorable and enlightening demonstrations. Her dynamic and enthusiastic teaching style left a lasting impression on numerous students, many of whom pursued careers in english and mathematics due in no small part to her influence. Her excellent ability as a teacher was aided by her remarkable and often unusual sense of humor. She will be remembered for sitting on the roof of Northview School for challenging her students to complete mathematics and reading projects. She also wrote and published several phonics, reading and writing text books for elementary schools across the country.
Survivors include her husband, John; three children, Cindy (Jon) Wilson of Peru, Richard (Wendy) Orcutt of Florida and Connie (Craig) Hagie of Spring Valley; 11 grandchildren, Jaquelline, Tyler, Jason, Parker, Amy, Jason, Ben, Alex, Jacob, Andrea and Alicia; nine great-grandchildren and her brother, Jerry Zeller of Florida. She was preceded in death by her parents. Pallbearers will be her grandsons.
