Janet L. Schofield

Janet was a truly interesting and amazing lady. She grew up in central Illinois on a farm. She was in high school before she lived in a house with indoor plumbing. She often lamented the pranks of some local hooligans who would sneak around at night and upend the outhouses on the local farms. The house got so cold in the winter that her perfume froze in the bottles. When she was young, she and her younger brother slept in the closet in their parents' room to keep warm. She met her husband, Robert (who preceded her in death), at the State fair where he was winning blue ribbons with his prized Rams and she was winning blue ribbons with the dresses she sewed for 4-H. They eloped right after she graduated as Salutatorian in her high school. These two mavericks went on to raise two children, Kurtis and Janelle. They lived all over the country and even overseas. When her husband died unexpectedly, this young widow invested every penny she could, got a job and managed to make a life for herself and her family that was just as wonderful and exciting as the life she had when her husband was alive. She worked for IBM for over 25 years. She volunteered at local schools and helped children with speech impediments and reading troubles to overcome their limitations. Every child has great potential and Janet knew how to draw it out. She continued to sew but, come to find out, she never really liked dress-making. She liked to make quilts. She loved the beauty in the fabrics and the art in combining fabrics. She loved nature and the outdoors. No matter how many stray animals her children brought home, she helped to care for them. She would fashion doll bottles to feed warm milk with cereal to countless bunnies, kittens and puppies. She served numerous organizations including Zonta, Circle of Home and Family and the Farm Bureau. After she took over her family farm in Illinois, she endeavored to continue her father's work of improving and caring for the land and water. She worked with the soil and water conservation district and won awards for the conservation projects that she implemented. She served on the Concord New Hampshire Parks and Recreation Committee for several years. She was a strong, practical, God-loving, smart woman who will be missed by so many - not for any single great accomplishment but for all of the amazing things that she did on any given day. She was good and kind and caring to all. She wanted to be - and was- a functional contributing member of society. She lived within her means and yet still never wanted. She was a wonderful daughter, sister, niece, cousin, wife, mother, grandmother and friend.
Janet joins her husband Robert, her parents Harold and Lillian, her brother Richard and many other relatives in Heaven. Surviving her are her son Kurtis, his sons Thomas and James, his wife Sue, ex-wife Debbie, daughter Janelle, her son Armen, her husband Leon and lots of loving extended family and friends.
Janet's amazing, active life was cut short by cancer - a vile nasty disease that deserves to be obliterated from existence. When she finally decided to stop fighting the vile nasty disease, (which is far more fitting a name because the term "cancer" is far too benign), the Hospice team at the Concord Regional Visiting Nurses Association made her life better every step of the way - including in the end where the team at the Hospice House in Concord, New Hampshire afforded her dignity and a gracious peaceful departure from this life into God's loving hands.
NH SERVICES - will be Thursday April 16 from 5-7 pm at the School House Cafe, 787 NH-103 Warner NH. This will a celebration of Janet's life.
IL SERVICES - will be Tuesday April 28. A church service will be at 10:30 at Emmanuel Lutheran Church Located at 325 E. Mazon Ave. Dwight IL 60420. There will be a luncheon to follow. Internment will be at Evergreen Cemetery in Morris IL at 2 pm that afternoon. In lieu of flowers, she and her family urge that donations be made to "Concord Regional VNA Hospice" at CRVNA - The Slusser Center, 30 Pillsbury Street, Concord NH 03301.