A Funeral Mass is under the direction of Buffington Funeral Home in Shiner, Texas and will be held on Monday, February 11, 2019at 10:00 am at Saints Cyril & Methodist Catholic Church in Shiner, Texas with Father Brian Heyer officiating. Interment will follow at Shiner Catholic Cemetery in Shiner, Texas. A Rosary will be recited Sunday, February 10, 2019 at 6:30 pm at Buffington Funeral Home with Deacon Joe Machacek officiating. Visitation will begin at 1:00 pm on Sunday at the Funeral Home. Janie was born in Shiner, Texas on September 21, 1919 to Adolf and Frances (Kurtz) Hybner. She was the fifth child of nine brothers and sisters. Janie was raised on the Hybner Homestead three (3) miles east of Shiner, and graduated from St. Ludmila’s Academy in 1937. Janie married James Swank in 1940. Janie and her husband James, began their first restaurant, Jim and Jane’s Café in Shiner. They later expanded this first cafe into the Sunken Gardens. Janie’s father then gave them an acre of his farm right on the outskirts of Shiner on which they built the Swank Restaurant. After James passed away, Janie met and married Claude Pickering. Janie and Claude operated the Swank Restaurant for many years. Janie was the cook in the restaurant and was very well known for her pies.
After selling the Swank restaurant, Janie and Claude moved to Yoakum and operated the La Mancha Inn. They then moved to San Antonio where she worked at Scrivener’s as a sales woman in the fabric department for about 17 years. Sewing was also something that Janie enjoyed and was happy to share her knowledge of sewing with others. After retiring from Scrivener’s she and Claude moved back to Shiner to be around her family. This was a wonderful move as she spent the last several years of her life socializing and playing dominos with her brothers, sister, and extended family,
Janie lived in her home town of Shiner, Texas until her passing at the age of 99.
We would like to thank the people of the Shiner Nursing and Rehabilitation Center for making her comfortable in her new environment. She was given excellent friendly care.
She was preceded in death by her parents, husbands James Swank and Claude Pickering, and daughter Marion Brooks, sisters Lilly Matula, Annie Sofka, Mary Burton, Martha Janota, and brothers Felix and Victor Hybner.
Survivors are daughter Carolyn Mikesh and husband Billy Mikesh of Gonzales, brothers Philip Hybner of Lufkin, and Daniel Hybner of Lake Jackson, seven grandchildren, nine great grandchildren and many much loved nieces and nephews.
Instead of flowers please send donations to your favorite charity.
Pall bearers for Mrs. Pickering will be; Bryan Mikesh, Carl Mikesh, Mike Stangl, Pat Hybner, Robert Hybner, and James Barcak.
To join the family in celebrating Janie’s life and to offer condolences, please go to: www.buffingtonfuneralhomeshiner.com
