Jeanette Cecelia Vermillion

Jeanette Cecelia Vermillion, 82

Jeanette (Jan) Cecelia Vermillion, of Missoula, received her last rites and passed away on Sunday, January 21, 2024, after a brave struggle with breast cancer.

Born Jeanette Cecelia Baker on January 1, 1942 to Andrew and Mercedes (Vaughan) Baker in Ogden, Iowa, she was an outgoing athlete and artist who loved basketball, softball, painting, and stained glass.

Jan attended college in Ames, Iowa where she took classes in home economics and art. It was there that she met Dennis Lynn Vermillion, whom she would marry in 1962 to start a family. Terry Lynn Vermillion was born in January 1963, and Monica Lynn Vermillion (Hilliard) was born in July 1964, both in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Monica resides in Missoula where she and her husband Robert Hilliard own and operate the Red's Towing, Pro Towing, and Dealer's Choice Detail businesses. Terry resides in St. Cloud, Minnesota where he and wife Hillary Vermillion (Reeder) are professors in music.

The family moved to Missoula in 1972 while Dennis was employed by the U.S. Forest Service. It was there that Jan began working for the Missoula County Public Schools as a media technician.

Jan's artistic eye and keen attention to detail helped her excel in printing, design, layout, and photo reproduction for most of the district's media production needs. Remembered by everyone for her contagious smile, Jan was upbeat, outgoing, and always there to help anyone who needed.

She embraced the great Montana outdoors where she took her family hiking and camping, played women's fastpitch softball, golfed, and gardened. She encouraged Terry and Monica to be active outdoors by enrolling them in karate, golf, tennis, swimming, football, and basketball classes.

She enjoyed artistic hobbies like painting, sewing, and woodworking and especially enjoyed creating beautiful stained-glass projects. Her passion for art rubbed off on her grandchildren Brittany Cowan who is known for her beautiful works of art at Lolo Creek Custom Skulls and Kit Vermillion who graduated Minneapolis College of Art and Design with a major in sculpture and printmaking.

She was preceded in death by her mother Mercedes Baker, father Andrew Baker, husband Dennis Vermillion and brother David Baker. She is survived by sisters Elaine (Kemmerer), Mary (Pieper), Norma (Maguire), brother Jerry Baker; children Monica and Terry; grandchildren Anthony Hilliard, Brittany Cowan, and Kit Vermillion; and great grandchildren Mason Cowan and Madison Cowan.

The family plans a private interment at St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery in Spring 2024 with flowers in full bloom and the radiant Montana sunshine beaming down. Please contact Terry at tvermillion@stcloudstate.edu if you would like to attend with the family.