Obituary of Janet Zapala Le Golvan

Janet A. Le Golvan, 79, of Chapel Hill, NC, peacefully died at home in the presence of devoted family on Saturday the 29th of June following a long and determined battle with pancreatic cancer over 4.5 years.   

Born at Cottage Hospital in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan on Sunday, July 30, 1944, to Ann and Frank Zapala.  Her formative years were spent in Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan.  She went to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor earning a BA degree in Germanic languages.  As part of the degree program, she spent her junior year abroad studying in Freiburg, Germany and touring Europe.  Upon returning she met, at the University of Michigan, her life-long husband, Dennis Le Golvan.  Following graduation from the University of Michigan Janet obtained a Masters Degree in Germanic languages from Wayne State University following which she taught Germanic language at L’Anse Creuse High School in Mt Clemens, Michigan.  They married on Friday June 13, 1969, in Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan.  Their first year of marriage was spent in Chapel Hill, North Carolina as Dennis did his medical internship.  They returned to Ann Arbor, Michigan for 4 years followed by a two-year stint with the Army in the Washington, DC area.  From there they moved to Toledo, Ohio to be near Janet’s family for the next 35 years.  Upon retiring from Toledo they returned to Chapel Hill. 

During their 35 years stay in Toledo, Janet was active in numerous academic and volunteer activities.  She was especially adept at helping organizations with their fund raising.  As president of the Auxiliary to the Academy of Medicine she led the organization through the transition to becoming the Lucas County Academy of Medicine.  Academically she achieved a Masters of Liberal Studies degree from the University of Toledo and later taught English Composition at the University of Toledo and Owens Community College.  She loved to travel having seen much of the world and especially liked the US National Parks.  She was fiercely devoted to her family and savored all the good things in life especially fine food which she would prepare for her family and friends. She enjoyed her multi-year engagement as the Editor of the Midwest for the Gastronome magazine of the Confrere de la Chaine des Rotisseurs and was an avid collector of cookbooks.  Gardening filled in as a pleasant diversion for her as was being an avid reader. 

She is preceded in death by her parents Ann and Frank Zapala and younger brother Richard Zapala.  She is survived by her husband Dennis P. Le Golvan, MD and sons Mark P. Le Golvan (Sophie), DO of Kernersville, NC and John J. Le Golvan (Rosy) of Cypress, TX, nieces Lauren Isanhart and Katherine Zapala and 3 much loved grandchildren Dominique Le Golvan, Eileen Le Golvan and Josephine Le Golvan. 

A funeral service will be held at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Chapel Hill, NC at 2:30 PM on Friday, July 5, 2024.   

The funeral mass will be livestreamed and can be viewed at the following link: https://youtube.com/live/X5_8sHSTQ8o?feature=share

Condolences may be expressed online at www.walkersfuneralservice.com

In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.  

Walker’s Funeral Home, Chapel Hill is honored to serve the Le Golvan family.