It is with all our hearts that we announce the passing of Janice Gayle Hildenbrand, who peacefully left this world in the comfort of home surrounded by family on July 27, 2025. She was born on October 11, 1940, in Evansville, Indiana to Florence (Stahlschmidt) Reidhaar and Paul Reidhaar.

Jan grew up loving the water and taking trips on her dad's cabin cruiser, learning to navigate the Ohio river and its locks as they went on family vacations from Evansville down to Kentucky and Barkley Lakes.

She was always a perfectionist at anything she did. Even as a small child be it "trimming" the bottom of the drapes in the family living room, using a crayon over her shoulder to make lines up and down the staircase wall, or cutting out the basket of flowers in her grandmother's bedspread while she was supposed to be sleeping. Her parents were mad but had to laugh as it was done with precision.

Jan spent her freshman year of high school at the Academy Immaculate Conception (later renamed Marian Heights Academy) an all-girl's Catholic boarding school in Ferdinand, Indiana, and finished high school at Mater Dei High School in Evansville. It was there that she first met George Hildenbrand.

It was not until they both attended Evansville College (now University of Evansville) that they were set up on a date. Jan would conveniently find herself driving in the wrong direction on her way home from classes, which just happened to be the route George walked home from the campus or work and would casually ask if he needed a ride home.

They were married in 1962 and a year later their first son Dan was born.

Jan received her Bachelor of Science in Education from Evansville College and began teaching at Mater Dei.

As George's career took them from Evansville, to Lansing, Michigan to eventually Fort Wayne she always found her passion of teaching where she eventually ended up at Saint Henrys.

They decided this was their last big move, it was time to put down roots and make the Fort Wayne area their home. George resigned from the custom metal company he worked for as a sales representative to places like the big three in Detroit and General Electric and went back to what he knew from his family, construction. In a short amount of time they started their own home building company, Hildenbrand Homes. Jan, still a full-time teacher and now working towards and earning her Master of Education from Saint Francis, still found time to help George in her off hours and summers by painting, being that extra pair of hands, and designing the spec homes they built.

They moved several times into new homes they had just built, only to end up with a client wanting the house they were currently living in. They would then proceed to build a new home for themselves.

Finally, in 1975 they found a piece of property in Hoagland and started their dream home. It was while Jan was helping George put cedar shakes on the roof of their new home, that she felt dizzy. A few days later they found out from the doctor, the dizziness was normal, they had another child on the way. They moved into their new home in May of 1976 with much of the interior still needing to be finished. Joe was born that July and Jan took time off to raise their new child.

Jan returned to teaching when Joe started Kindergarten, but now at Saint Joseph's School Decatur. She taught second grade for numerous years and later moved to the "third floor" to teach English and Religion in the middle school. Jan would retire finally with over 35 years of service to the Fort Wayne South Bend diocese, and multiple years in the other cities they lived.

While Jan was not a fan of large gatherings in public, she loved to host the extended family for Thanksgiving and various gatherings for friends.

Jan is now reunited with George, her husband of 62 years, who passed in September of 2024.

Surviving are her sons Daniel Hildenbrand and Joseph (Lee) Hildenbrand-MacSorley, grandchildren Holli and Tyler Hildenbrand, sister Judy Duncan, and numerous nieces/nephews and their children and grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents Paul and Florence, and siblings Barb, Jim, and Steve.

Her legacy of teaching, faith, and kindness will live on in the hearts of family, friends, and the numerous students she taught over the years.

A celebration of life will be held at a later date. Arrangements were made at Divine Mercy Funeral Home-Cedar Canyons, 1986 W. cedar Canyons Rd., Huntertown, IN 46748.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be directed to Poe Volunteer Fire Department or Hoagland Fire & EMS. Online condolences may be left at www.divinemercyfuneralhome.com.