Janet’s father was an orthopedic surgeon, following in the footsteps of his father & grandfather who were both physicians. Dr. “Stu”, as he was nicknamed, was widely loved & respected for his treatment of children with polio, pioneering the use of water therapy for them. Janet’s mother, Myra worked as a registered nurse until Janet was born. Janet’s only other sibling David Stuart Wood was born June 3rd, just before Janet turned 3 years old. Unfortunately, he was an invalid all his short 7 years of life & died just before Janet turned 10.
Janet was a good student in school, an avid reader & also dutifully took piano lessons as a young girl. She loved music & singing and one of her most prized possessions was a beautiful Chickering upright piano her Daddy gave her. That piano is still being used by Jan’s great-granddaughter Kate & oldest great-grandson Ian for their piano lessons!
Both Janet & her mother were lifelong asthmatics so each summer they would leave Illinois and stay in Wisconsin to escape the humidity & allergens. Starting at age 7, Janet enjoyed eight weeks at Camp Joy, a summer camp for girls on the shore of Lake Raymond, Wisconsin. Camp was a joy for Janet since it included many wonderful hours riding horses, swimming, sailing and canoeing. Since she was at camp for a full 2 months, her mom & dad would come regularly to visit her there. Unfortunately, it was during one of those visits to Camp Joy that her dad became ill and passed away from a heart attack. That was August of 1944, a mere 2 weeks before Janet’s 13th birthday. She never stopped missing her beloved daddy and loved to talk about him often and with pride of his professional accomplishments and his service in WWI. (Jan also laughingly mentioned her dad did NOT share her enthusiasm for horseback riding as he had spent way too many hours on horseback as a soldier in France!) After his death, Janet & her mom were invited to visit family friends in Tucson and loved it so much they moved there in 1946, when Janet was 15.
Jan attended Tucson High School and graduated in 1949. The next fall she started at the University of Arizona in Tucson where she majored in Biology and was active in the Gamma Gamma chapter of the Alpha XI Delta Sorority. While at the U of A, she also met a handsome young Army veteran named Walter! From that time on, they were inseparable. Part way through Jan’s college career, she evaluated future job prospects for a Biology major and decided to change her major to Education. (It didn’t hurt that Walt was also taking Education classes!) They married just before Easter, April 2nd 1953 and honeymooned at a brand new California theme park called Knott’s Berry Farm!
The newly weds both graduated from the U of A a few weeks after their wedding & spent their first summer in Oregon while Walt worked at a lumber mill. In the fall, they moved to Tempe where they both continued with post graduate studies at Arizona State University. Walt was a full time Masters student, while Jan took classes part-time and taught first grade full-time at Kyrene Elementary school in Tempe. The following school year, Walt taught part time at Kyrene & continued with night classes. Since married couples could not teach at the same school, Jan then moved to teach first grade at Montebello Elementary school, in the Alhambra school district. Even though the couple had both attended ASU for classes, they both always remained dyed-in-the-wool U of A Wildcat fans!
Walt still needed to finish up more master’s classes after his second year at ASU, but when he was offered a teaching job in California for the fall of 1955, the couple moved to Long Beach. However, they only lived in California for a semester before returning to their beloved Arizona. They were unimpressed with the California smog & traffic! Their daughter Valerie was born in California during their short residence and, once she was born Jan stayed home to be a mom instead of returning to teaching.
Weekends & summer were the times for family outings! From the time Val was a little, the family enjoyed time together 4-wheeling in the desert and camping. Camping as a family grew to include Val’s husband Dave and their sons & included many memorable trips camping around the Grand Canyon! While Jan wasn’t especially fond of sleeping in tents, she didn’t complain (unless it rained!) because she so enjoyed the family time. Camping wasn’t the only adventure she enjoyed with her kids & grandkids, however. Each December there was Christmas tree cutting and the NAU chorale dinner. There was a trip to Sea World one year. Another time, Jan & Walt along with Dave, Val & the kids rode the train to the Grand Canyon and that trip sparked an interest in narrow gauge trains. So three years later, the family spent a memorable week in Durango, Colorado enjoying the sights & the train ride to Silverton. Another day on the Verde Valley train rounded out the train adventures.
Jan’s hobbies as a young mom included reading and knitting. She did love to knit! Val remembers watching her mom knit as Jan watched TV – her hands just a blur as she knitted entire sweaters! Jan also began another “hobby” once Val started school. She served as a volunteer in politics, for many years! During this time, Jan served as president of several different Republican Women organizations. She worked on and eventually chaired the Health Textbook Selection Committee for the AZ State Board of Education. She studied Parliamentary Procedure, was a Precinct Committeeman, a Deputy Registrar and was also a member of several Republican state committees. In addition, she was also the campaign manager for the campaigns of AZ State Representative, Lillian Jordan from 1976-1982.
But out of all the political volunteering she did from 1964 through 1980, she seemed to enjoy working on the presidential campaigns of Republican candidates most of all. She dedicated many, many hours to Barry Goldwater’s campaign in 1964. Val remembers going with her to headquarters during those summer months & helping stuff many envelopes, (as well as playing on any available typewriters)!
Jan was just one of the many volunteers in Ronald Reagan’s first campaign for president in 1976. However, when Reagan ran again 4 years later, Jan became the Office Manager for Reagan’s Phoenix campaign headquarters! The highlight of Jan’s political career was her selection as a Delegate to the 1980 Republican National Convention in Detroit. Best of all, she was also one of the Arizona delegates to go to Washington D.C. for President Regan’s inauguration and the Inaugural Ball in January 1981!
It was after Reagan’s election that Jan returned to the work force full time. Jan started out as the Administrative Assistant for Arizona Senator Anne Lindeman. When Senator Lindeman retired in 1986, Jan went to work for the Commerce Dept. office and then lastly for the Arizona State Retirement System. When Jan first started working in late 1980, she had never used a computer. However by the time she retired in 1996, she had become quite proficient with many programs!
In 2003, Jan & Walt celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary by taking a cruise to Tahiti! This was their one & only cruise and it was the trip of a lifetime for both of them. It’s an example of their lifelong gift of generosity that they asked Val & Dave to join them on the cruise - and then insisted on paying for their fares as well! Those who knew both Jan and Walt knew how they enjoyed showering love & gifts on both family & friends! Over the years, they made so many friends from church and the school district as well as waitresses in their favorite restaurants. Acquaintances became lifelong friends and Jan & Walt took an interest in them just like they were family. In return, Jan & Walt were loved & treasured as grandparents by so many of them!
Jan was raised in the Christian faith from childhood and was a long time member of Westside Bible Church. She enjoyed & faithfully attended the Thursday morning ladies Bible Study every week for many years, until she started working full time.
Jan & Walt always remained very interested in politics, listening regularly to the news & political talk shows on the radio. However, Jan’s favorite pastime was reading her Bible and mystery novels! However, this past year her eyesight had deteriorated so much from macular degeneration that reading was almost impossible and that really frustrated her!
She lost her beloved husband a mere 3½ months ago after his long battle with cancer and while she bravely kept a smile on her face, she desperately missed the man she had been married to for 63 years and began to long to “go home”. Heaven answered her prayers when the angels lifted her peacefully into the arms of Jesus on February 8, 2017, surrounded by the love of her family around her.
Jan is survived by her daughter Valerie (Dave), and two grandsons Michael (Kyla) and Daniel (Amanda) and 3 great-grandchildren: Kate and Ian Garrison of Flagstaff and Chesley Taylor Garrison of Del Rio, Texas. Just in the 2 weeks prior to her passing, Jan got to meet and hold 2 month old great-grandson Chesley. Her grandchildren and great-grandchildren were the joy of her life!
P.S. A personal note from Val – Mama, I love you & I miss you! Thank you to both you & Daddy for sacrifices you made in order to send me to Christian schools from second grade through high school, when all you had was Daddy’s small teacher’s salary. Thank you for always showering Dave & I with your love and then showering our children and their families with your love as well! Enjoy singing with the angels Mama, and Daddy, do the finish work on our heavenly mansions before we get there! There will be a big family reunion someday soon!
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
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