Women of Note: Strong faith guides Jennifer Grumelot through life
Jennifer Grumelot’s mantra is “every day is a gift.”
by Judy Williams
When you ask Jennifer Grumelot about her goal in life, the answer is simple.
“I want to do acts of kindness,” she said. “I feel these acts will make a positive difference. It is my way to give back to the community.”
While attending Eastern Michigan University, Jennifer met her soulmate, Edward Grumelot. Jennifer, a student worker for the Party Crew catering group of McKenny Hall, encountered Ed, an ROTC student, working the same event. After the work was finished, Ed asked Jennifer to go for a walk. The rest was history. They were married at the First Presbyterian Church in Ypsilanti on Jan. 29, 1960.
Jennifer has had a busy life as a wife and mother of Scott, Suzanne, Kelly, Tamilynn, Christi, Heidi, Corey and Carey. The Grumelot family adopted Corey and Carey, twin boys, when they were 8 years old. Ed had Corey in his class and knew the boys needed a forever home. After a family meeting of Ed, Jennifer and the six kids, the family voted to adopt Corey and Carey. Jennifer also is the proud grandmother of 10 and great-grandmother of two. When you add in kindergarten teacher, church activities, Girl Scout leader, director of church youth activities, and very active member of the Stockbridge Lioness Club, you have a person totally engaged in the community.
Some of Jennifer’s happiest memories are of Ed’s active-duty years. She could spend hours describing how the family packed up and moved to another location. Plus, the family grew larger during these years. She especially enjoyed their time in Hawaii.
During Ed’s deployment to Vietnam, Jennifer stayed in the Unadilla Township area. While Ed served his country, her church family made sure to care for her and the kids.
After leaving the Army, Ed continued his military career as a reservist. The Grumelot family followed Ed during the summers to his reserve training. This was vacation time for Jennifer and the kids. They kept busy with camping, hiking and canoeing while Ed attended his training.
“I had a 12-passenger van,” Jennifer said with a laugh. “Some of the other wives and kids would jump in and join us as we explored the area. In the evenings, we would sit around the campfire and enjoy our wonderful life. We made some wonderful friends during this time.”
Jennifer started teaching for the Stockbridge Community School District in 1967, while Ed was deployed to Vietnam. He was hired by the district the following year after being discharged as a captain.
She spent most of her 30-year teaching career in Stockbridge in a kindergarten classroom.
“I decided to be a kindergarten teacher when I was in kindergarten,” Jennifer said. “I just knew this was what I was supposed to do.”
Jennifer and Ed both retired in 1995. One of her prize possessions is a quilt put together by some of the school staff. This special quilt was designed by several teachers and signed by the Howlett and Smith elementary school staff and Jennifer and Ed’s students.
“Ed and I were very active with the Scouting program,” Jennifer said proudly. “We had the Boy Scouts meeting in the basement and the Girl Scouts upstairs. We continued with the programs for over 10 years.”
The couple also started a church youth program called Cool Christian Kids.
“The kids came up with that name, not us,” Jennifer said. She was the program’s activities director for 15 years.
During her 35-plus years as a Lioness, Jennifer served as a local officer and district president. She also was instrumental in the operation of the Lions Air Force. Serving as a parade coordinator, she scheduled parades and assigned pilots for the events.
“The Lions Club purchased six of these little planes to use for parades,” she explained. “The yellow planes were the good guys. They were named Leader Dog, Eye Bank and Lions of Michigan Foundation. The red planes were for the bad guys and named Diabetes, Glaucoma and Cataracts. We used to travel to parades all over the country and even Montreal to take part in parades.”
Jennifer grinned as she continued, “Each plane had a little squirt gun on the front of the plane. We had a great time spraying the audience.”
The Lions Air Force was started in 1992 by the Dewitt Lions and purchased by the Stockbridge Lions in 2005. The Stockbridge Lions sold the planes to another Lions group in 2018.
When asked about her philosophy of living your best life, Jennifer replied, “Faith and trust in God. Every day is a gift.”
And Jennifer’s many small acts of kindness have not only met her personal goal to make a difference, but they have made her a special person in the eyes of our community.
Jennifer Grumelot lines up with the Lions Air Force for the Gregory Fourth of July Parade.
