Obituary of Janice Kay Weber
Janice Kay Weber, age 86, of Shorewood, and formerly of Oak Park, passed away at Ascension St. Joseph Medical Center Joliet on Friday, July 26, 2024, surrounded by her loving family.
She was born May 29, 1938 in Sterling, IL, the oldest child of three to Chester and Margaret Lenhart, and grew up on a dairy farm in Coleta, IL. She was always so helpful around her home where she fed chickens, detassled corn and helped care for the house.
She went to school at Illinois State Teachers College, and during one summer break she took a job at the Green Giant Canning Company where she met the love of her life, Lyle Weber. They dated long-distance for one year until they decided to marry! Janice joined him at the University of Wisconsin and they lived there until Lyle graduated and they started to grow their family with the firstborn, Carolyn Beth.
They moved back to Illinois and eventually moved to the Oak Park area where she added Cathleen Mary and Daniel Lyle to the family. Jan was an excellent mother and homemaker. She sewed most of the clothes, costumes, and various things for the family. She was a great cook and always made the house look so special. She also had an eye for decorating. Jan and Lyle were loyal parishioners at Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church where they made many friends.
Janice later decided to return to school receiving her Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education with honors from Northeastern Illinois University, thus becoming the first person in her family to graduate from college. She taught for some years, then took on the enormous job of running and managing the Oak Park and River Forest High School Bookstore. She employed many people that fondly remember her and she made great lifelong friends there.
She was talented in so many ways, and was a meticulous cross stitcher whose works were plentiful and beautiful. She was also a quilter and she approached them with the same detail, and began to craft homemade cards.
As a mother, she never missed a game, recital, play or event. She encouraged her children to pursue their dreams. As a grandmother and great-grandmother, she was always there to watch them perform, bake cookies and have sleepovers. She always wanted to know how they were and was a very involved grandmother and great-grandmother.
Jan and Lyle were soon to be married 66 years. Their marriage led them on many adventures with traveling, camping, boating and relaxing at their beloved cottage in western Illinois.
Jan will be dearly, dearly missed by her husband, Lyle Weber; her daughter, Carolyn Hudetz and son-in-law, Paul Hudetz, her daughter, Cathleen Callen and son-in-law, Michael Callen, her son, Daniel Weber and her daughter-in-law, Fanny Weber; her grandchildren, James (Cindy) Hudetz, Marcus (Erin) Hudetz, Adam (Rachel) Hudetz, Leo Weber, Danielle (Rocendo) Weber, Janice Weber, Elizabeth (Andrè), Callen, Ryan (Madeline) Callen, and Devyn Callen; and many great-grandchildren, Gianna, Zander, Vincent, Kate, Meghan, Madison, Gavin, Graham and Julian. She is also a dear sister to Larry (Donna) Lenhart, Virginia (Robert) Britz; a dear sister-in-law to Gayle (the late Daryl) Spaans; and a fond aunt to many nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, and her sister, Virginia (Robert) Britz.
Visitation for Janice Weber will be held Wednesday, July 31, 2024 from 3:00 to 8:00 p.m., at the Fred C. Dames Funeral Home, 3200 Black Road, Joliet. Funeral services will be held Thursday, August 1, 2024 at 10:30 a.m., at the funeral home. Interment will be in Woodlawn Memorial Park.
If you would like to make a donation, memorials in her name to the Michael J. Fox Foundation (www.michaeljfox.org) would be appreciated.
For more information, please call (815) 741-5500 or visit her Memorial Tribute at www.fredcdames.com
