Jeanette "Jan" Clara (Travis) Castle-Reed

Jan Castle Reed: 86, of Elkhorn, WI died peacefully Monday May 16, 2016 at Aurora Lakeland Medical Center Elkhorn, WI after several years of dementia and declining health.  She was born in Lake Geneva, WI on January 25, 1930 the daughter of the late Richard and Georgie (Simpson) Travis. She graduated from Lake Geneva High School and attended Whitewater College.  Jan was an excellent jazz pianist and singer, who with her first husband Vern Castle, enjoyed a career on stage in hotels and supper clubs from Las Vegas to Miami, Canada to the Bahamas.  They later built a studio on the south shore of Lake Geneva, where she wrote and performed on hundreds of commercials for radio and television.  After retiring from the music business, she married Robert J. Reed in Elkhorn, WI.  She began a second career as a painter, becoming widely known as “Wisconsin’s most versatile artist”, and honored as Elkhorn’s “Artist in Residence” for her series of paintings that were made into Christmas cards for “Elkhorn, the Christmas Card Town”.  Jan is survived by her husband of 33 years, Robert, three nieces and their families, Lori (Terry) Schaefer, Wendy (Ed) Nowak and “Cubby” Swatek.  She was preceded in death by her brother Rick Travis.  A celebration of Jan’s life will be held 11:00 AM Saturday May 21, 2016 at Haase-Lockwood & Associates Funeral Home and Crematory 730 N. Wisconsin St. Elkhorn, WI with Rev. Dr. Scott McLeod officiating.  Burial will be at Hazel Ridge Cemetery Elkhorn, WI.  Visitation will be Saturday at the funeral home from 10:00 AM until time of service.  On-line guestbook is at www.haaselockwoodfhs.com.

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