Janice Steinmetz

Janice Steinmetz passed away March 28^th, 2023 at the age of 80.  She was born May 31, 1942 with her twin sister to Gotthilf Dalke and Emma Marzolf on a farm near Lehr, North Dakota.  She attended a country school near there. 

Janice married Lee Steinmetz in 1970.  They moved to the Garden City, Kansas area.  They welcomed their daughter Melissa in 1972 and their son Jerry in 1973.  She was a stay-at-home mother until her kids were grown.  Once they were grown, she started her 23-year Wal-Mart career working in the fabric department.  The first couple of years she worked in Garden City.  After Lee retired, they moved to Jamestown where she continued to work for the rest of the 23 years.  She retired in 2021.  She met a lot of people working there.  It's amazing how many people she got to know and how many people got to know her.  Everywhere she went someone knew her.  She enjoyed helping people with their projects.  The amount of knowledge that she had in sewing and fabrics was unbelievable. 

Janice had eight grandchildren that she was especially proud of.  She loved visiting with them on the phone to hear everything that they were doing.  She loved when they came to visit, taking them shopping, teaching them how to cook, sew, and garden.  On holidays or when they came from Kansas, her counters were often covered in cookies and plachenta. 

Janice was an excellent gardener.  For years in Kansas, she had the biggest and best gardens.  She loved crafting and sewing.  She could sew anything.  The past year she enjoyed tagging along to vendor shows and the local farmer's market.  Her favorite projects were sewing blankets for her grandchildren.  It was thought that she probably cut or sewed enough fabric to cover the planet twice.

Since she retired, having Sunday evening meals at her house became a tradition.  It made her day to have family and neighbors together to eat and play cards.  When the weather was nice, she would sit on the deck and watch everyone play ball, fish in the river behind her house, or play games outside.  She somehow managed to never be on the receiving end of a foul ball.

She loved flowers.  Her favorite flowers were snap dragons, geraniums, and spotted petunias.  Walking through a greenhouse full of flowers was a weakness.  She always left with a new plant for her deck.  Her favorite colors of flowers were red and purple.

Janice loved going anywhere.  She was always ready to go after a quick phone call.  She was perfectly happy riding in the passenger seat to take annual trips to Kansas to see her daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren, to watch a late-night meteor shower, or go to Ashley to spend time with her sisters.  She never even minded waiting at the vehicle while everyone went hiking or spent an afternoon fishing.

Janice left a legacy of unforgettable memories, great recipes, and a way to make people smile.  She will be missed dearly.

            She always said “What would I do without you?”   

            We are now left to wonder- “What are we going to do without her?”

Janice is survived by her daughter, Melissa (Sid) Flores, Holcomb, Kansas; their children-  Blake, Logan, Colton, Jocelyn; her son, Jerry(Lindsey) Steinmetz, Jamestown, North Dakota; their children- Andrew, Jace, Caitlin, Branson; sisters, Mavis Widmer, Janet Dalke, Esther Krueger, Marvel (Sid) Gross, all of Ashley, ND, LaVina Garcia, Auburn, CA; and many in-laws, nieces, nephews, friends, past and present neighbors.