Janie Evelyn Kennedy Cavallero

Janie Evelyn Kennedy Cavallero was born July 22, 1924 in Memphis Tennessee to the former Willie Belle Sadler and Franklin Oswald (Ozzie) Kennedy, who met when Ozzie was on a WWI troop transport through the South. Janie was the youngest of three children, with an older sister Leona and a brother, Ozzie Junior. The family suffered hardships during the Depression. Janie graduated from Memphis’s L. C. Humes High School in 1942.

Both Leona and Ozzie served in the Armed Forces in WWII. Janie first worked in Memphis as a telephone operator for Bell Telephone and then transferred to Vancouver, Washington to join her father who now worked at Kaiser Shipyards.

In Vancouver, Janie met her future husband Frank, a Portland resident recently returned from military duty in the Pacific. Married on February 1, 1947, they launched a new family and a new business. The Linnton Feed and Seed Store occupied what was originally a turn-of-the-century hotel in Linnton, a lumber town along the banks of the Willamette. Their first home was in rooms that had been the hotel kitchen. Now with one child, Janie minded the store when Frank was “on delivery.”

Its mill-town days behind it, Linnton was a flourishing Post-War 1950s community when a Portland Urban Renewal Project, over the protests of businesses and families, demolished half of the main business district. Her focus on her family, Janie participated in the Linnton School PTA and in activities at the Linnton Community Center. She was a volunteer for the Brownies, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, Little League baseball, and the Linnton Election Board. Janie and Frank were among the parishioners who contributed financing and labor for a new church for St. Birgitta’s Parish, where Janie was in the Altar Society.

In later years, Janie was a bookkeeper at the Feed Store and traveled to various cities in the US and Europe. She enjoyed respect and affection as a long-term Linnton resident.

Janie loved to read. She treasured classic novels and was an avid reader of Agatha Christie and other mystery writers. She was a library patron, a crossword enthusiast, a raconteur, a collectibles buff, a neighborhood cat-rescuer, a letter writer and a fan of hymns and opera. She was a superb housekeeper. She was generous and she was a good friend.

Janie had a vivid personality. She never lost her Southern flair for a pithy turn of phrase. Influenced by her upbringing, Janie always kept Sunday a day of rest and Church-going. Her memorable Sunday Dinners were an example of the value she placed on traditions and doing your best for your family.

A Rosary will be held in Skyline Memorial Gardens Funeral Home, 4101 NW Skyline Blvd., Portland, OR, Clatskanie Room, on Thursday, November 17th, 2016, at 7pm.

A Graveside Service and Committal will be held at Willamette National Cemetery, 11800 SE Mt Scott Blvd, Portland, OR, on Monday, November 21st, 2016, at 1:30 pm.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to:

St. Birgitta Catholic Church Building Fund - 11820 NW St Helens Rd, Portland, OR 97231. Thank you.

Please visit the guestbook portion of this site and enter a special memory or message. Thank you.