By Admin1 (admin) on Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 4:38 pm: Edit Post |
Obituary for Guatemala RPCV Janet K. Getchel
Obituary for Guatemala RPCV Janet K. Getchel
Obituary
Janet K. Getchell, a Cornell graduate student in the International Agriculture and Rural Development program and a returned Peace Corps volunteer, died in Quito, Ecuador, Feb. 19, from a heart failure resulting from a respiratory infection. She was 34.
Getchell had served as the Peace Corps' Cornell campus recruiter in 2000, while she finished her master's degree program course requirements. In December, she resumed work as a Peace Corps animal husbandry staff trainer in Ecuador.
Getchell graduated from Linfield College, McMinnville, Ore., in 1988 with a bachelor's degree in mass communications. Following graduation, she joined ABC/Capital Cities's Fairchild Publishing subsidiary in New York City as a sales assistant. From there, Getchell went to Seattle and worked as a production assistant to a record director at Miramar Productions. In 1991, she became an administrative assistant and board operator at KOMO radio, Seattle.
In 1993, Getchell joined the Peace Corps and served as an animal husbandry educator in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. She received Peace Corps training in Santa Lucia, Guatemala, where she studied the Quiche Mayan language, integrated pest management and veterinarian technical training.
Getchell started in Cornell's International Agricultural and Rural Development program in August 1999. Her graduate research focused on small ruminant production, but she was also interested in technology use and agricultural research in the developing world. This past summer, she was awarded a Cornell Agroforestry Working Group grant for initiatives in South Africa.
Getchell is survived by her parents, Roger and Leslie Getchell, of Spokane, Wash., who themselves served in the Peace Corps in 1997-1999 in Jamaica.
A memorial fund has been set up in the name of Janet Getchell. Donations can be sent to the Peace Corps Partnership Program, OPSC and I V, Peace Corps, 1111 20th St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009.