Photo: Michael Owen Thomas
donor profile
Janice McGladrey Wilson Like her parents before her, Janice McGladrey Wilson has a commitment to advocacy, service and philanthropy. Janice’s parents pioneered services for people with developmental disabilities when Janice’s brother was born with Down Syndrome in 1937. Refusing to accept the usual practice of institutionalizing their son, they got involved in early efforts with education and employment opportunities in the Cloquet, Minn., area. “Thanks to my parents’ efforts, my brother, along with hundreds of other developmentally disabled Minnesotans, became a contributing member of society,” Janice said. “I saw firsthand how each of us can make a difference for others,” she added.
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Now Janice is pleased to see her grandchildren carrying on the family trait. Her granddaughter, Karen, now a college freshman, was among a small group of tenth graders who raised $20,000 for relief efforts in Darfur. During 50 years in the Champaign-Urbana community, Janice and her husband, Curt, who died in February 2009, made their own impact. Janice served as a school nurse in the Urbana school system for 15 years. Curt, a University of Illinois professor of agronomy and a USDA researcher, was active as a scoutmaster in the Boy Scouts. The couple hosted international students from the University of Illinois and Bradley University and made Church World Service mission trips to Mexico and India. WILL