Janis Louise Kuyper Erland, age 87, a longtime resident of Lawrence and a tireless advocate for improving lives through the art and science of cognitive skills, passed away peacefully following a brief illness on December 29, 2024.
Jan married James Frederic Erland of Ottumwa, Iowa, on August 24, 1958, at Trinity Episcopal Church in Ottumwa. They moved to Lawrence in 1971 and were married for 57 years. Jan is survived by her three children: Mark James Erland (Carla), Christina Lucile Erland and Cynthia Joy Erland; three grandchildren: Estelle Erland Rubin, Nicholas James Erland and Samuel Neal Erland. Also surviving is her loving brother, Ted Kuyper.
Jan was born on December 20,1937 in Iowa City to Louis and Stella May Blunk Kuyper of Pella, Iowa. She graduated from Pella High School in 1955 and attended University of Texas, University of Iowa and graduated from Drake University in 1959 with degrees in Speech, Education and Science. She obtained a master’s degree in Special Education from University of Kansas in 1980 and taught in seven public school districts and served as a substitute teacher in Lawrence from 2005 to 2007. In keeping with her lifelong interest in multiple academic disciplines, Jan was a constant presence at the University of Kansas where she audited classes in business, computer science, special education, music therapy and art history.
Jan applied her devotion to the science of learning through two organizations she founded: Innovative Learning Stratagems, Inc. (ILS) in 1980 and Mem-ExSpan, Inc in 1981. ILS was a nonprofit established as a research platform which was the foundation for much of her work. Mem-ExSpan was a successful curriculum development and cognitive skills training program which enabled numerous struggling students to achieve success both academically and professionally, well beyond their predicted potential.
Jan’s diverse interests were applied as a published researcher, diagnostician, writer, composer, and music choral program developer. She was a pioneer in researching the efficacy of using puppets as peer instructors in learning, impacting the lives of thousands of individuals aged 9 to 65 with her “Bridge to Achievement” cognitive skills memory coding, chunking, and sequencing program. She maintained a regular presence on social media well into her late 80’s and had a large and varied following on multiple platforms.
Jan was the proud recipient of a research award from the International Alliance for Learning (IAL) based on her work conducting, tabulating, and publishing juried reports on classroom interactive cognitive skills training. As part of her work she collaborated with five professors from four universities to report longitudinal results for twenty public, parochial, and private classrooms.
Jan and James were lifelong members of Trinity Episcopal and St. Margaret’s churches. She was a founding member of St. Margaret’s Church in 1988 and served as a Lay Eucharistic minister, church schoolteacher, concert choir member, and lay reader at both churches.
Jan recognized the mutual benefit of young adults and seniors participating together in Bible studies and developed an inter-generational faith-based instructional model for seniors in assisted living centers. She directed a vacation Bible School where her three children performed musical puppet shows at assisted living centers and homes for those with special needs. These early shows evolved into her children’s musical theatre production, Voco Poco Puppets, which ran from 1974 to 1979. Jan passed on her love of theatrics and music to her children by teaching them to compose and write the music and scripts for the puppet productions. Puppet shows were a family affair in the Erland household – Jan led the performance, James directed, daughters Christina and Cynthia sang and performed, while Mark accompanied on piano to the delight of audiences throughout the greater Kansas City area.
Jan was involved in several national social service organizations, including The Daughters of the American Revolution, Delta Delta Delta social sorority, and the Lawrence Music Club. She served as a board member for the American Psychological Association, the Association for Curriculum and Development, and the Association for Learning Disabilities, and was part of the Kansas City Board of Directors for the National Association for Training and Development, where she helped establish the first Position Referral Service. She was placed on the first Board of Directors for the Lawrence Arts Center, by the mayor of Lawrence. Jan was a founding member of the Total Quality Alliance and the National Learning Foundation in Washington, D.C. As a Type I brittle diabetic for nearly 50 years, she survived complications while inspiring others in the diabetic community.
Memorial services will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, April 11, 2025, at Danforth Chapel. Private family inurnment will take place at Clinton Cemetery, Clinton, KS. To leave a message for Jan’s family, please visit www.Rumsey-Yost.com.
