Jane's Park

The idea for Jane’s Park came in the spring of 1999 from two graduates of Bremen High School. Rhonda McIntyre, a Bremen elementary school teacher, and Linda Mullen-Clevenger , a reporter for the South Bend Tribune, dreamed of having a wooden playground structure in Bremen similar to the one in Plymouth and at Potawatomi Zoo. Both women knew Jane Sieg Stillson who had just died of cancer. Jane was the sister of another classmate, Janice Sieg Pruitt. Jane had chosen death for herself so that her unborn daughter, Jessica, would be born healthy. They decided to build the Bremen playground in memory of Jane. A nonpermanent fund was started at the Foundation for the building project. By establishing a tie with Marshall County Community Foundation, their donors and supporters knew the organizers were serious. Many fundraisers were conducted to reach their $100,000 goal. 

A year later, construction took place May 10-14, 2000. On the first day of construction, former governor and former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Otis R. Bowen, M.D., ran the first chain saw of the project, inspiring others to get behind this local project. The playground was finished on Mother’s Day, a fitting tribute to all mothers. The town of Bremen passed a proclamation dedicating June 15 every year as “Jane’s Park Day” and every year a volunteer crew meets on that day, Jane’s birthday, to clean up the park and put water seal on the wood. Jane’s Park Endowment Fund was established at MCCF for maintenance of the park. Like MCCF, the whole intent of the project was to bring the community together toward a common goal.