Jan Miriam Kivipelto

Born January 2, 1948 in Norfolk, VA. Died February 25, 2017 from complications associated with cancer treatments.

Jan (aka Willie) lived with her husband, Douglas, on their 7-acre farm in Newberry for the past 35 years. She is also survived by her brother, Lt. Colonel (ret.), Dave Story of Colorado Springs.

Jan was a jumpmaster/rigger at Palatka Paracenter from 1975-1978. In 1979, she competed in the United States Parachute Association national skydiving competition.

She enjoyed hiking and riding her appaloosa through the Smoky Mountains near Asheville. 

Jan was a chemist /researcher with the University of Florida for more than 35 years, mainly within the Department of Animal Science.

While working with IFAS, she enrolled in the Masters degree program at UF, earning a Master of Science degree in 1986. In 1988, she enrolled in the UF Asian Studies program to study the Chinese languages. The following year, she applied for and was accepted as an exchange student at the University of Beijing. That spring she was forced to return home when protests and violence erupted at Tiananmen Square. In 1990, Jan was awarded the Alice M. Zirger memorial scholarship for excellence in the area of Asian studies.

During her years with the Animal Science department, she wrote protocols and was instrumental in procuring grants from major drug companies, including a grant from Merck to study the efficacy of ivermectin when used to treat parasites in horses.

During the period from 1981 until she was diagnosed with cancer in 2010, Jan made 130 blood donations to Civitan Regional Blood Center.

tShe will appreciate it if her friends and colleagues will honor her memory by making a single blood donation.