Flora Janet Lockhart

on Oct. 4. She was born in Charleston, WV on April 24, 1934, and later included Ardmore, OK,

New Smyrna Beach, FL, Hockingport, OH, Bozeman, MT, and Oak Hill, WV among the places

she called home. At every location, she provided warmth, kindness and a legacy of service to

others.

On Feb. 7, 1953, she married her lifelong friend, James L. Lockhart, who preceded her in death

in 2016. Janet and James formed a mighty partnership over the years leaving a legacy of

involvement in the community and enriching the lives of others.

For 20 years they worked side-by-side operating the Tandy Leather and American Handicrafts

Companies in Charleston. They were members of the Coast Guard Auxiliary and spent many

hours together teaching boating safety classes and patrolling the Kanawha River as volunteers.

For more than 50 years they conducted genealogy research, publishing more than 300 family

books, several of which are available at the West Virginia Culture Center Archives; their

research is now available online at Central West Virginia Genealogy by the Lockharts. In later

years they became familiar faces at genealogy and history fairs.

Janet was an active member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), serving as

Regent of the Charleston, WV chapter and Western District Director of West Virginia and later

joining the Blennerhassett Chapter in Parkersburg. Over the years she helped many others find

their Revolutionary ancestors to become DAR and SAR members.

In 2013 Janet was awarded the Margaret Agnew Blennerhassett Snow Drop Award by the

Blennerhassett Island Historical State Park, where she and James served as docents, for loyalty

and dedication to the park. In that same year she received the West Virginia History Hero award

in recognition of her and her husband’s grassroots-level contributions to the preservation,

promotion, and perpetuation of the state’s rich history.

Janet also spent years caring for others, including her mother-in-law and father-in-law, her own

parents, and her sisters. Her thoughtfulness touched the lives of countless individuals, and her

memory will continue to be a reminder of the goodness that exists in this world.

She is survived by three children, Gerry (Linda) of Hockingport, OH; Bruce (Suzanne) of Lady

Lake, FL; and Marie Lockhart of Bozeman, MT; six grandchildren, Chris, Jeremiah, Sarah,

Zackary, Zeke, and James Lockhart; six great-grandchildren; two sisters, Fern Gunnoe and

Joyce Payne; and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents,

Rev. Clyde Matthew Taylor and Bessie Frances Summers Taylor, and three siblings, Robert

Taylor, Susan Sheets, and Nancy McCanless.

The care and attention of a special niece who Janet loved as a second daughter, Brenda

Ballard, brightened Janet’s days during the past two years she spent living next to her first best

friend, sister Joyce, at Oak Hill Place in Oak Hill, WV, where they re-lived childhood antics and

pursued new ones.

The family wishes to thank those at Oak Hill Place and Hospice of Southern West Virginia for

the care and kindness they provided. Janet will be interred at Sunset Memory Gardens in

Parkersburg; no service will be held. A celebration of Janet’s life will be scheduled at a later

date.