Jean Zoeller Reas Endowment Fund

The Jean Reas Fund, created by its namesake in 2017, is a donor advised fund, with Jean serving as the donor advisor. She has left the fund’s options open to make awards for any charitable cause in the Marion area.

Jean created two additional funds at Marion Community Foundation — the Dr. Herman & Mrs. Jean Reas Scholarship Fund and the Jean Zoeller Reas Scholarship Fund — to support students pursuing a medical career, organizations from Jean’s hometown of Tiffin, Ohio, and her career in education.

Jean moved to Marion in 1987 to become principal of George Washington Elementary, a position she held for 10 years. She and Herman married in 1990 and enjoyed a brief four years together before Herman, a pediatrician and family practice physician with Smith Clinic, succumbed to cancer.

Her intentions for the funds mirror her career interests. She is a supporter of Catholic education–herself a product of Catholic education and having served as principal of the all-girls St. Ursula Academy in Toledo–and women in leadership roles. Locally, she is a familiar face at the Harding Symposium and is greatly looking forward to the new Harding Presidential Center.