Janet Hayes

Janet Hayes was a remarkable woman, a woman who was tough yet tender, caring yet courageous. She devoted her life to caring for the people around her, young and old, rich and poor, strangers, friends and family. Janet was a loving wife, mother and grandmother, who put her family first in her life, a life we were so blessed to have shared.

Janet’s story began on a damp spring day in 1927, as the flowers began to bloom in the town of Mansfield, Ohio. Those were interesting times in this country, during the peak of Prohibition, when big personalities like Al Capone and Charles Lindbergh dominated the day’s headlines. On April 19, 1927, Francis and Margaret (Kealey) Toepp celebrated a big event of their own, with the birth of a beautiful baby girl, a daughter they named Janet.

Janet was joined by two older brothers in the family’s Mansfield home, Jim and Jack. Her father was a salesman, while her mother cared for the kids and the home. Yet Janet’s childhood wasn’t an easy one, as her father died before her first birthday, and her mother sadly died when she was nearly 10.

With both her parents gone, Janet went to stay with many different family members, and attended boarding school in Detroit for a time. Eventually, her uncle, Frank Kealey and his longtime girlfriend Ruby took her in, giving her a solid home in Kalamazoo.

There Janet grew into a very bright, beautiful young woman, and after high school began attending Nazareth College, where she earned her Licensed Practical Nurse degree.

Janet began working at various doctor’s offices in the Kalamazoo area, and settled into a nice home on her own, ever the strong and independent woman she was. Well, independent to a point, of course. One wintry December day in 1962, Janet was futilely shoveling snow. Her neighbor, a nice young man named Jack Hayes, saw her and couldn’t help but speak up. “You know, you’re not doing it right,” Jack teased her. She promptly handed him the shovel, and the two were inseparable ever since.

The couple dated briefly, but wasted little time. Janet might have been shoveling wrong, but they were just right for each other! The happy couple was married on May 4, 1963, at St. Augustine Church in Kalamazoo, and honeymooned up north for a time.

Janet and Jack faced their share of challenges starting out, as Janet suffered several miscarriages. Being the kind, caring woman she was, Janet wanted to share her love with a child, and the couple adopted a beautiful daughter, Karen, in 1965. As fate would have it, Janet soon got pregnant, and they were blessed with their second daughter, Kathy, in 1967.

Jack was busy going to college, while Janet stayed home to care for her baby girls. After Jack graduated from Western Michigan University, the family packed up and left Kalamazoo, moving to Pontiac, where Jack went to work in sales for Marathon Oil Company.

Eventually, the family moved again, first to Swartz Creek, followed by Lansing. With her girls in school by then, Janet rejoined the workforce, taking nursing jobs at local doctor’s offices. The family would move again, to Grand Rapids, and eventually Charlotte, where Jack began working for the Michigan State Highway Department, and where they would stay for many years.

After working in nursing, Janet eventually began working as a teacher’s aid, another excellent fit for the caring, patient lady. Janet loved children — any and all of them, and enjoyed being around the kids. By then the years began to take their toll on her, however, and her health began to decline, so she retired.

Janet had plenty to keep her busy in retirement, and was always an energetic, vivacious lady. She loved playing cards, from poker to especially euchre, and even joined a euchre club. Janet read to elementary children at a local school and swam everyday. She also read novels, and enjoyed being social with her friends, ever the life of the party!

Most of all, Janet loved spending time with her family, and she and her beloved Jack were inseparable. They traveled together often with Jack’s job, as well going on a wonderful trip to Ireland, which was so special to her. Janet also remained very close to her daughters, and was very involved with her grandchildren, who always brightened her days. She and Jack moved to Kalamazoo to be closer to Kathy in 2004.

Janet’s health gradually worsened over the years, though she was always upbeat, ever courageous with the challenges she faced. She was a fighter, and worked tirelessly to be healthy. Janet fell and broke her hip in 2006, which was a difficult ailment for her to overcome. Still, if it could be beaten, Janet proved time and again that she was the woman to beat it. Her doctors were often amazed at her resiliency, and would say, “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Sadly, Janet’s brave health battles ended on Friday, October 16, 2009, at Rose Arbor Hospice. She was 82.

Janet was such an amazing lady, so tough yet tender, so kind, caring and courageous. She devoted her life to caring for those around her, as a nurse and teacher, a friend and mentor, as a wife, mother and grandmother. Most of all, Janet was a woman second to none, who always put her family first in her life, a life we were so blessed to have shared. She will be greatly missed.

Learn more about Janet, view her Life Story film, and share in some refreshments with her family and friends on Monday from 6:00 – 8:00 PM at the Life Story Funeral Home, Betzler-Kalamazoo; 6080 Stadium Drive, 375-2900. Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated Tuesday 10:30 AM at the St. Augustine Cathedral. Burial will take place at Mt. Olivet Cemetery followed by a luncheon at the church hall. Janet was preceded in death by 2 brothers: Jim and Jack Toepp. Surviving are her husband of 46 years, Jack Hayes; 2 daughters: Karen (Tim) Block and Kathy (Joe) Piecuch; and 3 grandchildren: Christina, Charlie and Abby. Please visit Janet’s personal web page at www.lifestorynet.com where you can read her Life Story, share a memory or photo or sign her memory book before coming to the funeral home. Memorial donations may be made to Hospice Care of Southwest Michigan.