Mildred Pauline Shrum Janecka

Mildred Pauline Shrum Janecka, 95, died Monday, December 17. She was born in Scipio, Oklahoma, on June 15, 1923, to John Ira "Ari" Shrum and Hetta Ethel Gestes but grew up in Amarillo, Texas. During the depression, her father briefly worked on a large farm near Artesia, New Mexico. While attending high school there, Mildred met Carl Anderson Janecka, a handsome senior. The approach of war expanded job opportunities at the zinc smelter in Amarillo, and when the Shrum family returned there, Carl travelled with them. He and Mildred married on December 9, 1939.

Carl worked at the smelter and at B. F. Goodrich in Amarillo until the last two years of WWII when he was drafted into the navy and stationed in Pearl Harbor. While awaiting his return, Mildred worked at a coffin company and later in a retail army-navy store. After the war, the couple were never again apart for more than a few days. They settled in Amarillo where Mildred bore two children.

The Janecka family moved to Wichita Falls in the early 1950s when Carl purchased a small burglar alarm company, Beasley Alarm System. While raising her family, Mildred worked with her husband to grow the size and reputation of their business for over 30 years. Because he retained the former business name, Carl was sometimes known to his customers as "Beasley" while Mildred preferred to be called "Mrs. Carl." They sold their business in the early 1980s and enjoyed a decade of retirement before illness claimed Carl in 1993. Mildred never again left the city limits of Wichita Falls because, as she said, "This is where Carl is; this is where I stay." She lived independently until the age of 92 when a stroke left her wheelchair-bound.

Mildred was also preceded in death by her younger sister, Billie Ruth Shrum Lamka. She is survived by her son Johnny Carl Janecka, and wife Donna, her daughter Janet Carol Janecka, her grandsons Ben Reinhardt and wife Gina, and Rusty Reinhardt and wife Alyson, her grand-daughter Ami Janecka Reeder and husband Michael, her great-grandchildren, Justin Luke, Chip Reeder and wife Kelly, Alex Reeder, Sky Reinhardt, Tully Reinhardt, Eli Reinhardt, and her great-great-grandchildren Rylie Reeder, Emory Reeder, and Scarlett Reeder.

Visitation will be from 6-8 p.m. on Friday, December 21st, at Hampton Vaughan Crestview Funeral Home. Funeral services will be at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, December 22nd, at Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd at 10th and Burnett Streets, Fr. Brian Chase and Fr. John Payne officiating.